Carnegie Clean Energy says the latest model of its wave power generator is competitive with mainstream renewable energy sources.

The updated CETO 6 — described as “the most advanced wave energy device globally” — boosts power production and efficiency “once it is manufactured in high volumes and incorporated in large projects”.

Carnegie (ASX:CCE), which has been working on the CETO wave power technology for ten years, has added another two moorings to its wave power generator.

Multiple moorings can increase the amount of power that the devices absorb.

The new design “proved challenging to realise at large scale”  and extra moorings make it more expensive because they need more, albeit smaller, foundations on the ocean floor.

A networked arrangement means the units can share foundations, however.

An animation showing Carnegie’s earlier CETO 5 wave power device. Video: Carnegie 

The new models can now generate up to 1.5 megawatts (MW) depending on the location, an increase from 1MW in the original CETO 6 model.

“The combination of decreased foundation size and the benefits of foundation sharing result in a significant reduction in foundation cost per CETO 6 unit,” the company said.

Carnegie expanded into solar, wind and batteries this year. The move caused annual losses to double, but the company began to book substantial revenue growth for the first time.

Carnegie has spent more than $140 million developing the wave technology.

In October Carnegie won a $15.7 million Western Australia government grant to develop and set up its commercial-scale wave energy technology in Albany. Originally it had planned the roll-out for Garden Island, in Fremantle.

Featured Companies

You might be interested in