Carnegie energy project nearing completion

Fremantle-based Carnegie Wave Energy says its $31 million Perth Wave Energy project is close to the commissioning stage after completing offshore preparations and testing its CETO technology.

Carnegie said it had finished construction of an onshore plant, including installation of all power generation and conditioning equipment on Garden Island, and was nearing completion of the testing of the CETO units to be deployed off the island.

“Over the past months, Carnegie has been working through a rigorous program of integration testing of the CETO units in advance of offshore installation and commissioning,” Carnegie said in a statement.

“The program has included testing of the buoyant actuators, pumps, connectors, onshore and offshore pods, hoses, instrumentation and control systems.”

With the onshore component of the project completed, Carnegie said it would soon undertake integration tests before beginning the offshore installation of the CETO units and officially commission the project.

However, for the project to be commissioned it requires a weather window, in which the wind and wave conditions would allow a planned marine operation to be performed safely and effectively.

Carnegie had been set back from planned offshore construction and installation activities, but said conditions were beginning to improve.

“As evidenced from Carnegie’s recent offshore installation preparation, the incidents of suitable weather windows has now begun to improve and will continue through the rest of spring,” it said.

Carnegie’s CETO system operates underwater and captures wave power, which pumps water at high pressures and drives turbines and generators to produce electricity.

The power generated from the project will be sold to the Australian Department of Defence for use at HMAS Stirling, Australia’s largest naval base, which is located on Garden Island.

The project was part-funded by the federal government through an $11 million grant in June, matched by a $20 million, five-year loan facility from the Clean Energy Finance Corporation.

Carnegie’s share price rose by 4.4 per cent to 4.7 cents per share at 2:30pm.