Named after a Greek goddess, the CETO wave power converters are the first to be fully submerged under water, keeping them safe from the effects of major storms and reducing visual impact. The project on Garden Island in Western Australia will be a grid-connected, commercial scale operation that will demonstrate the technology’s viability, record its interactions with the environment, and help provide fresh water in an accordance with the West Australia Water Corporation.
Desalination is an important part of Perth’s long-term strategy to maintain a supply of clean drinking water and the Carnegie Wave Energy technology will secure a means to provide this precious resource without relying upon energy-hungry machinery. Instead, by creating its own power, the CETO infrastructure can cut down on greenhouse gas emissions while also generating electrons and purified water.
Wave energy developer Carnegie Wave Energy Limited is pleased to announce that the first of its new generation CETO 5 wave energy units has been successfully installed and is operating at its Perth Wave Energy Project site off Garden Island, Western Australia.
The CETO 5 unit was successfully installed on the first attempt and has now been operating for a little over a week. The sea state conditions experienced during this initial operation period have ranged up to maximum wave heights approaching 3.5m and unit performance to date has been as expected with no faults identified.
(To see footage of Carnegie’s CETO 5 unit installed & operation off Western Australia follow this link)
Carnegie’s Chairman, Mr Grant Mooney, said:
“We are delighted to have successfully commissioned the first CETO 5 unit. This moment is the result of an enormous effort by the entire Carnegie team as well as the incredible support from our shareholders, the Western Australia State Government, the Australian Federal Government, the Department of Defence, the Royal Australian Navy and the City of Rockingham.”
Carnegie’s Managing Director, Dr Michael Ottaviano, said:
“The successful operation of CETO 5 marks the completion of a critical phase in Carnegie’s evolution and culmination of 3 years of design, financing, development and construction. It is also now the start of a new phase as we learn as much as we can about CETO 5 via the data collection and analysis that has already commenced. This initial CETO 5 unit is currently delivering significant amounts of real time data in regards to hydrodynamic movement, pressures, flows, loads, displacements and the like. All of which is critical to validating Carnegie’s proprietary computational models which can then be used with confidence in finalising the design of Carnegie’s 1MW CETO 6 system in 2015.”
Ivor Frischknecht, the CEO of the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) said the achievement at the Perth Wave Energy Project was of great significance for wave energy in Australia.
“This project demonstrates that wave energy has a real future as part of Australia’s energy mix,” Mr Frischknecht said. “It is also evidence that developing and commercialising new technologies takes considerable time, resources and financing. The CETO technology has been progressively scaled up over the past decade and has made great strides towards offering a competitive renewable energy solution.”
Next Steps
The second CETO 5 unit is currently being finalised ready for deployment which will likely take place in December, subject to suitable weather conditions. Once confidence is established with its operation, installation of the third CETO 5 unit would follow. It is also likely during this period that Unit 1 will be retrieved for a complete inspection prior to a redeployment.
Connection to the Western Power grid will occur once Carnegie has full confidence in the power quality and system control being achieved. Until that point the hydraulic energy delivered ashore will be measured and run through a load bank at the onshore power station site at HMAS Stirling on Garden Island. Integration of the wave energy into the desalination plant will occur after electricity generation and grid connection has been achieved.
Preparations
Over the past months, Carnegie has been working through a rigorous program of onshore testing of the CETO units in advance of offshore installation and commissioning. This onshore testing program was designed to test and verify that individual components meet specification, component subsystems integrated and tested and to identify and remedy any problems before deploying the CETO units offshore.
The testing and preparation also extended offshore to tow tests of the CETO unit and function testing of the deployment system at the site in the days ahead of unit installation and commissioning.
Background
The Perth Wave Energy Project has been under construction for approximately 12 months beginning with the installation of the CETO 5 unit offshore foundations last summer. The construction was proceeded by some 2 years of design, approvals, offtake, financing and procurement activity. More than $30m has been invested in the design, development and construction of the project. The CETO technology takes a unique approach to wave power by generating both power and water from the ocean swell while remaining fully submerged beneath the ocean surface, increasing its ability to survive large storms.
About Carnegie
Carnegie Wave Energy Limited is an Australian, wave energy technology developer. Carnegie is the 100% owner and developer of the CETO Wave Energy Technology intellectual property.
About CETO
The CETO system is different from other wave energy devices as it operates under water where it is safer from large storms and invisible from the shore. The technology is capable of generating power onshore or offshore depending upon the specific characteristics of a project site.
CETO technology characteristics include:
- Converts ocean wave energy into zero-emission electricity and desalinated water.
Environmentally friendly, has minimal visual impact and attracts marine life.
Fully-submerged in deep water, away from breaking waves and beachgoers, and unaffected by storms.
Perth Wave Energy Project (‘PWEP’) Fact File
- Upon completion, PWEP will be the first commercial-scale CETO grid and desalinated water connected wave energy project.
The Perth Wave Energy Project is supported by $13.1m in Australian Government funding through the Australian Renewable Energy Agency’s Emerging Renewables Program.
PWEP is supported by $7.3 million from the Government of Western Australia’s Low Emissions Energy Development (LEED) Fund. This is part of a larger $10 million LEED grant, awarded to Carnegie by the Western Australian Government, to support the development of the CETO technology from concept through to completion of PWEP.
The Desalination Pilot is supported by a $1.27m AusIndustry grant from the Clean Technology Innovation Program.
Providing clean, renewable energy and potable desalinated water to Australia’s largest naval base, HMAS Stirling, on Garden Island in Western Australia.
The CETO 5 technology being utilised in the Perth Wave Energy Project (PWEP) is configured to utilise the CETO pumps to pressurise water and deliver it onshore via an underwater pipe. Then, onshore, high-pressure water is used to drive hydroelectric turbines, generating zero-emission electricity. The high-pressure water can also be used to supply a reverse osmosis desalination plant, replacing or reducing reliance on greenhouse gas-emitting, electrically-driven pumps usually required for such plants
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November 2014
Pre-Revenue Securities
Carnegie Commercialization to Cost $150 Million
In the next two years the long process of raising capital to fund the development of its wave energy technology may finally come to some sort of an end for Carnegie Wave Energy and its loyal shareholders.
In 2016, when Carnegie expects to get its CETO 6 based first commercial project up and running at WA's Garden Island, it will have spent $150 million developing and commercializing its technology, said managing director and chief executive officer, Michael Ottaviano.
It's a lot of money, but the good news for shareholders is that $140 million of it has already been spent or has been raised and is waiting to be committed. At some stage Carnegie will need to raise the outstanding $10 million. That is not a lot in the greater picture and given its record so far Carnegie should have little difficulty raising it.
Asked by Eco Investor what Carnegie's capital needs are likely to be after the CETO 6 project at Garden Island, Mr Ottaviano said he hopes they could be as low as zero. This is because Carnegie will then be in a position to sell projects to clients who will pay for their development and the equipment.
After the 3 MW CETO 6 installation at Garden Island, the next project will be a CETO 6 project at Wave Hub in Cornwall, UK. This will be a 3 MW plus 7 MW project that will be funded by a client with commissioning expected in 2018. The UK government has already spent over $50 million to build offshore and onshore power infrastructure and a grid connection that can host a 50 MW project. Carnegie has one of four slots open to project developers. The developers only need to add their technology offshore and plug into the existing infrastructure and grid. Another boon is that the UK Government is offering a very generous initial feed in tariff of $500 per MWh. Mr Ottaviano said this is about 10 times what Carnegie will get at Garden Island.
Along the way, the CETO 5 project now being installed at Garden Island will generate some revenue, although Carnegie has not revealed how much as it is a demonstration and not a revenue raising project.
The first CETO 6 project is also a demonstration project but it will also generate revenue as the CETO 6 units are four times larger than the CETO 5 units now being installed. Despite their greater size and capacity, their additional cost is marginal.
Successful demonstration of these would give Carnegie two models to sell. The 240 kW CETO 5 units suit locations such as islands that need both power and water, while the 1 MW CETO 6 units suit full open ocean applications for industrial scale power. CETO 6 units do not produce fresh water.
After the Wave Hub project at Cornwell, Carnegie has many options for further projects around the world with key markets likely to be UK, Ireland, France, remote islands, Chile, US, Canada, Japan and Australia.
Mr Ottaviano said having Garden Island as a home base is ideal for developing and commercializing the technology. The geography allows for the CETO 5 project only 3 kilometres offshore in an area partly shielded by a rise in the seabed and the CETO 6 project to be 10 kilometres offshore in deeper, open ocean conditions. The Australian Navy is an ideal client as it needs both energy and fresh water for its naval base. And Garden Island's proximity to Carnegie's headquarters is useful for ongoing research and development.
Carnegie is now at a very good stage of its commercialization. Its CETO 5 project is well underway; it is now being installed and will operate for at least a year. Its commercial scale CETO 6 model has been developed and its first commercial CETO 6 project is mostly funded. Much of the preliminary work for its second CETO 6 project has been done and will put Carnegie in a position to sell its equipment to third parties.
It has been a long journey for Carnegie's shareholders but the end of the company's pre-revenue phase has a timeline and is now in sight. Achieving it will deliver what is shaping up to be the world's first commercial wave energy technology and business.