Wave energy developer Carnegie Wave Energy Limited was award a new AUD 11m (EUR 7.6m) Australian Federal Government grant to support Carnegie’s next wave power project.
The AUD 11 million grant will be received from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency’s Emerging Renewables Program. This is matched by the $20m five-year loan facility from the Clean Energy Finance Corporation previously announced in March this year.
The securing of this combined funding now allows Carnegie to confirm Garden Island as the location of its first CETO 6 project. All the power generated from the project will be bought by the Australian Department of Defence under Carnegie’s existing power supply agreement for use at HMAS Stirling, Australia’s largest naval base which is located on Garden Island.
The CETO 6 Project (Project) will consist of three CETO 6 units deployed off the coast of Garden Island and connected to the Western Australian electricity grid. Electricity generated from the Project will be sold to the Australian Department of Defence under Carnegie’s existing power supply agreement. The Project will be up to 3MW in capacity and, based on the recent design work, is expected to have a total cost of $31m including design and contingency but excluding corporate payroll and overheads. Design work on the Project has been underway since 2013.
The CETO 6 unit in the Project has a target power capacity of 1MW (1000kW), some four times the current CETO 5 generation being used in the Perth Project. The increased capacity, combined with superior efficiency, delivers significantly reduced power costs and, when deployed at large commercial scale, aims to be cost competitive in a range of markets globally. The CETO 6 design builds on a decade of experience gained in previous generations including the design and manufacture of the current CETO 5 units.
Carnegie’s Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Dr Michael Ottaviano said, “This grant funding represents a crucial element of the CETO 6 Project and we are delighted to have achieved this outcome at this time. In a globally competitive environment this gives us the confidence to move forward quickly and efficiently with the commercialisation of our CETO technology. Carnegie is grateful for the ongoing support of the Australian Government.”
The current primary focus of the Company remains on the commissioning and operation of its Perth Project, however, given the lead times inherent in developing projects, it is important that the CETO 6 Project and associated financings are progressed in parallel with the Perth Project. The Perth Project utilising the CETO 5 technology has progressed up to the point of commissioning and an update on CETO 5 Perth Project will be made shortly.