As an island nation, Australia has massive potential wave power generation resources and capabilities. But just how much energy does the ocean have to give? Research by the wave energy developer Carnegie Corporation and the Federal Government has revealed just how powerful waves can be.

An independent report commissioned by Carnegie Corporation has shown that at least 35 per cent of Australia’s current base load power needs can be economically generated by waves.

The report, Wave Power Assessment for the Entire Southern Coastline of Australia, aimed to independently assess the potential near-shore (less than 25 metres water depth) wave energy resource along Australia’s southern coastline. It found that Australia has a potential near-shore wave energy resource of approximately 171,000 megawatts (MW) – approximately four times Australia’s current total installed power generation capacity.

According to the report, which was produced by ocean resource specialists RPS MetOcean, a conservative ten per cent of this near-shore wave resource is estimated to be economically extractable. This would provide approximately 35 per cent of Australia’s current power demand from zero emissions wave energy. The results also demonstrated an effective wave resource availability of 97.5 per cent, which will make base load renewable power generation possible.

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“The World Energy Council estimates that the energy that could be harvested from the word’s oceans is equal to twice the amount of electricity that the world currently consumes. Australia has the longest coastline with exposure to the most reliable wave energy regime in the world due to its proximity to the circumpolar Southern Ocean and the West Wind Drift,” said Carnegie Managing Director Michael Ottaviano.

He said that the company will use the RPS study to further inform commercial CETO site selection, which will be followed by more detailed site‐specific modelling to determine the design and construction of any commercial wave energy generation site.

Report data was sourced primarily from the globally utilised NOAA WaveWatch III wave modelling system and verified against actual measured wave data taken from sites along the southern Australian coastline.

A previous report showed that the theoretical, deep water wave resource for the same area was estimated to be 500,000 MW, reflecting more exposed open conditions in water depths greater than 50 metres.

The report was commissioned as part of the feasibility activities at the recently granted Albany license area. The site is located 15 km southwest of Albany and consists of approximately 30,000 hectares of offshore wave resource and an adjacent onshore area.

Meanwhile, Minister for Climate Change and Water Penny Wong has released new research to improve understanding of how climate change might affect offshore waves and the potential impact on Australia’s coastal zones.

The modelled data suggests that over the past 45 years there has been an increase in the frequency of weather events which led to large waves being generated off Australia’s southern coast.

Senator Wong said “There is excellent work underway in Australia to harness the power of waves to generate electricity as we move to a low pollution economy.

“But large waves can also be destructive, leading to coastal inundation, erosion and the disturbance of marine habitats. Understanding wave behaviour in a changing climate is critical to how successfully we manage both the opportunities and the risks.”

The $800,000 research project was jointly funded by the Department of Climate Change and the CSIRO. More information can be found at www.climatechange.gov.au