Leading Australian wave energy developer Carnegie has secured the last remaining berth at a United Kingdom wave demonstration site where it will build a three megawatt (MW) project.
Carnegie will build the project using its commercial CETO 6 units, after Wave Hub managing director Claire Gibson said the Australian firm’s technology outshone rivals for the Cornwall project, which she said could be expanded to more than 10MW.
“Carnegie has an impressive track record, successfully developing their CETO technology from concept to pre-commercial array in just 10 years,” Ms Gibson said.
The $54 million Wave Hub, installed in 2010, consists of a giant “socket” on the sea bed, which is connected to the power grid by an underwater cable.
Backed by the UK government and the European Union, Wave Hub is the world’s largest grid-connected demonstration facility, and has a current export capacity of 30MW, which is upgradeable to 48MW.
The Wave Hub, which is publicly-owned by the UK Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, aims to allow companies to test their devices.
Carnegie will use the berth to test CETO 6 in open water conditions, and electricity generated will be sold under the hub’s power purchase agreement, which includes a 50c/kWh feed-in tariff.
“The deal provides Carnegie with a pre-developed site and installed grid-connected infrastructure to test its CETO 6 commercial generation technology while leveraging off UK technical and commercial supply chain expertise in the heart of the marine renewables industry,” Carnegie’s executive director of European business development, Kieran O’Brien, said.
The agreement provides Carnegie with a second CETO 6 site, the first is at the Garden Island project in Perth.
The company said the UK project could be advanced in parallel with Garden Island expansion or “slightly lag or replace” the Australian project option.
It said advancing multiple programs would be prudent, given development risks including technical, regulatory and commercial.
Meanwhile, Carnegie announced it had met a milestone deadline for its CETO 5 Perth Wave Energy project, entitling it to $1.9 million in payments from the West Australian and federal governments.
