Australian wave energy developer Carnegie Wave Energy Ltd. has started operating its project in Perth, and has connected it to the grid.
The power is sold to the Australian Department of Defence for use on Garden Island by HMAS Stirling, Australia’s largest naval base. The project is the first grid connected CETO wave power plant and the only wave power plant anywhere in the world operating multiple wave units.
Carnegie’s CETO technology has been under development for approximately 10 years and has had A$100 million (US$78 million) invested in its commercialisation over this period. The wave resource that Carnegie’s CETO technology harnesses is an abundant and consistent source of clean energy.
The project will also be the first wave power station in the world to produce both power and freshwater, when Carnegie’s newly commissioned desalination plant on Garden Island is integrated with it. This will allow zero-emission freshwater to be produced from the ocean’s waves at the same time as clean electricity.
Carnegie’s CETO 6 project is currently in the design phase and will feature the largest CETO units yet with a targeted capacity of some four times CETO 5 buoys. The project is supported by A$13.1million in government funding.