The Perth Wave Energy Project will demonstrate Carnegie Wave Energy Limited’s CETO wave energy device. The commercial demonstration project will have a peak installed capacity of 5 megawatts (MW) – enough energy to power 3,500 homes, and result in the savings of 500,000 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions over the project’s lifetime. Carnegie says that its CETO projects are designed for a 20-year-plus operating life.

Stage 1 of the project, which has already commenced, will see the deployment of a single stand-alone CETO unit. This involves the mooring of the unit, as well as a data telemetry buoy. The CETO unit will be deployed for an initial period of twelve months, during which periodic inspections and maintenance will be carried out.

A jack-up rig is currently onsite and installing a drilled and grouted mooring.

Detailed cost and design activities associated with Stage 2 of the project will be undertaken later in 2010, with construction and commissioning scheduled for 2011.

Article continues below…

Carnegie chose the location for the project, in the Sepia depression between Garden Island and Five Fathom Banks, following twelve months of feasibility studies. This included visiting sites around Western Australia in the mid-west, south-west and metropolitan regions.

The Garden Island waters were eventually selected due to their optimum combination of a range of technical and environmental factors, including wave resource characteristics, pipeline route options, grid connectivity, water depth, scale of plant and deployment and servicing logistics.

Following the success of a pilot plant demonstration off Rous Head, Fremantle, Carnegie has entered the commercial demonstration phase of CETO. This has been undertaken with the financial assistance of the Western Australian Government, in the form of a $12.5 million grant through its Low Emissions Energy Development Fund.

The project was formally launched by Western Australian Minister for Energy the Hon Peter Collier at Carnegie’s research facility in Fremantle.

Carnegie’s Chief Operating Officer Greg Allen said that while the primary aim of the project is to demonstrate the CETO technology, it will also provide Carnegie with its first project-based revenues from the sale of power.