Wave energy developer Carnegie Wave Energy Limited (CWE) has completed the conceptual design phase of its CETO 6 Project at Garden Island.
The CETO 6 concept design is the culmination of work commenced in 2012 and incorporates lessons learnt from the Perth Wave Energy Project, recent wave tank testing in Scotland, internal design and modelling studies and design work undertaken with Carnegie’s supply chain.
The CETO 6 design delivers a number of advantages over previous CETO generations including an approximate four times increase in rated capacity to 1MW, the removal of heavy offshore lifts (and associated costly heavy lift vessels), simplified installation and maintenance and more advanced control systems, Carnegie said in a press release.
The system locates the power generation (power take off or PTO) inside a contained vessel (Pod) inside the Buoyant Actuator (BA). Locating the PTO inside the Buoyant Actuator allows more advanced control increasing system efficiency. The use of an electrical export cable (or umbilical) to deliver the power onshore also reduces transmission losses when compared to the use of a pipeline with high pressure fluid as used in the Perth Wave Energy Project’s CETO 5 technology generation. The incorporation of the power generation equipment offshore also increases the market for CETO as it can take advantage of deeper, more distant to shore wave resources and sites.
The concept design phase covered a wide range of disciplines and project work package areas including hydrodynamic modelling, wave tank testing, electrical topology, offshore site studies, grid connection, instrumentation and controls, power take off architecture, installation and maintenance philosophies and tether and mooring options.
The wave tank testing of scale CETO 6 models at FloWave in Edinburgh, United Kingdom formed an important part of the overall concept design as these tests, along with PWEP results, confirmed that the targeted 1MW nominal unit capacity was achievable.
The offshore geophysical survey activties for the project are now complete, with a preferred Project site having been identified some 10km offshore from Garden Island. The geophysical survey results, along with the concept design results, feed directly into the detailed design of the Project. Detailed design is targeted for completion in mid-2016.
Image: CWE