Construction to begin on WA wave energy project

Construction of the Perth Wave Energy Project is due to begin next month. Located at Garden Island, the project will start delivering green energy to the grid in 2014.

Upon completion, the project will be Australia’s first commercial wave energy project connected to the electricity grid. An associated wave-powered desalination plant will be a world first.

Carnegie Wave Energy’s CETO wave-power system operates via a group of submerged buoys tethered to seabed pump units. The buoys move in harmony with the motion of the passing waves, driving the pumps which in turn pressurise water that is delivered ashore via a pipeline. Onshore, high-pressure water is used to drive hydroelectric turbines, generating zero-emission electricity.

The high-pressure water will be used to supply a reverse osmosis desalination plant, replacing electrically driven pumps usually required for such plants. The desalination plant was made possible by a $1.25 million government grant, announced last week.

The $31.2 million Perth Wave Energy Project is supported by both the federal and WA state governments, which contributed $18 million to the project’s overall costs. The project will provide up to 2 megawatts of clean, renewable electricity - enough to power the equivalent of 1000 houses and reducing carbon dioxide emissions by up to 3500 tonnes per annum.

Dr Michael Ottaviano, CEO of Carnegie Wave Energy Limited, said, “The beginning of construction of the Perth Wave Energy Project is a significant moment in the Australian energy industry. The green project will encourage Australian investment and jobs in manufacturing, engineering and infrastructure. Australia is at the cutting edge of the global marine energy sector, which the UK Carbon Trust forecasts will be worth $760 billion by 2050.”

“I have no doubt that this is the future of power in Australia,” said Kane Thornton, CEO of the Clean Energy Council. “It’s exciting that governments are supporting this technology. The CSIRO predicts that by 2050, wave power could provide up to 10% of Australia’s energy needs.”