Carnegie funded for wave power project

Aquaculture businesses and local universities have chipped in for a $3.4 million wave technology project by Carnegie Clean Energy.

Carnegie is undertaking the project with the Blue Economy Cooperative Research Centre.

The MoorPower demonstrator project will test a wave energy product to be used for moored vessels to secure clean energy from offshore activities.

Carnegie will design, operate and install a scaled demonstrator of MoorPower just offshore from its headquarters in North Fremantle.

The company said the MoorePower would reduce the reliance on diesel generation.

Blue Energy will fund $1.35 million in cash and other partners will contribute $1.8 million, while Carnegie has pledged $265,000.

Other funding partners for the project include Huon Aquaculture, Tassal Group, DNV GL Australia, Advanced Composite Structures Australia, University of Tasmania, Climate KIC/Australian Ocean Energy Group, AMC Search and the University of Queensland.

Carnegie chief executive Jonathan Fievez said the company was pleased to collaborate with Blue Energy and other leading partners for MoorPower.

“MoorPower reduces or removes the reliance on diesel and provides clean, reliable, predictable energy to support the growth of a diverse sustainable blue economy,” he said.

“Wave energy has the benefits of consistency and predictability, and in some places, wave may be the only renewable energy that is practical.

“With an enormous resource that is largely untapped, wave energy is only set to grow, and working on joint initiatives like the MoorPower project, will accelerate and strengthen the advancement of these technologies on a global scale.”