Australian Minister of Energy and Environment, Josh Frydenberg, has visited the Israeli wave energy company Eco Wave Power (EWP) as it looks to explore wave energy opportunities in Australia.
Minister Frydenberg was accompanied by the CEO of the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA), Ivor Frischknecht, who visited EWP’s power station in Jaffa Port in Israel, and according to EWP, Frydenberg said it represented ‘a very exciting project for Australia.’
The visit follows the one Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, made to Australia in February, during which he was accompanied by EWP’s founder Inna Braverman as part of the Israeli business delegation.
During the visit to Australia, EWP announced its plans to take the company public on the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX).
Also, EWP said it embarked on a $6 million capital raising round to support its IPO and growth plans, with a term sheet already signed with an Australian investment fund and a recently finalized Share Purchase Agreement with an American insurance company. The pre-money valuation is $40 million, according to EWP.
EWP said Australia was well suited for the implementation of wave power, citing a report by Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) which predicts that by 2050, wave energy could contribute up to 11% of Australia’s electricity, enough to power a city the size of Melbourne.
EWP’s wave energy technology has been under development since 2011. The company has a power plant in Jaffa port that has been operational for 3 years.
Last year, EWP switched-on its first grid connected wave energy array, which is selling electricity to the electric grid of Gibraltar. The station was co-funded by the European Union and is a part of a total planned capacity of 5MW, which will provide up to 15% of all Gibraltar’s electricity needs.
In addition, EWP holds a projects pipe line of 130MW worldwide, and 5 established subsidiaries in Gibraltar, China, Mexico, India and Chile.