Another supply deal for Carnegie Wave

Perth-based wave and tidal energy developer Carnegie Wave Energy has a new supply agreement,  announcing a deal with the Australian Department of Defence to supply power and grid connection for Australia’s largest naval facility on Garden Island in Western Australia.
Under the $31 million deal, Carnegie will supply wave energy to the facility with an initial 2MW capacity on completion at the end of 2013. The project has had assistance from a $12.5 million grant from the WA State Government and $10 million from the Federal Government.
Carnegie recently announced advanced discussions were under way with the West Australian utility Water Corporation for the supply of power to its Southern Seawater Desalination Plant.
Carnegie employs a grid-connected wave technology called CETO. The wave energy system operates by using a number of fully submerged buoys anchored to the ocean floor converting wave energy into zero emission electricity.
Carnegie CEO Mike Ottaviano said “CETO is exactly the sort of technology we should be supporting”.
Prime Minister Julia Gillard said the project was the start of even bigger things to come. “We should all be proud that this is Australian design, Australian ingenuity,” Ms Gillard said.
Ms Gillard explained that the deal would save HMAS Stirling from producing 2.6 million kilograms of carbon pollution over a five year period.
Coinciding with the power deal, Renewable Energy Holdings sold their 11 percent stake in Carnegie for $1.14 million. Based on the sale price, Carnegie would be valued in real terms at $10 million.
The announcement of the Garden Island deal comes in the wake of several other wave energy projects recently announced for the eastern seaboard.
Ocean Power Technologies signed an agreement with US defence contractor Lockheed Martin for the development of a 19 megawatt wave energy project near the Victorian city of Portland.
Oceanlinx recently received $4 million from the Federal Government’s Emerging Renewables Programme to develop its commercial wave energy demonstrator project off the South Australian coast.
Australian Wave Energy developer Biopower Systems announced receipt of a $5.6 million investment from the Federal Government to develop its 250 kW, 400 tonne multi-blade BioWave pilot project at a site off the coast of Port Fairy in Victoria. The project is planned to be operational by the end of 2015.