Perth company Carnegie Wave Energy is set to design and build the world’s first renewable energy island microgrid that includes wave energy generation as part of the mix.
The $7.5 million project on Garden Island off the coast of Perth, Western Australia, will involve the construction and integration of 2MW of photovoltaic solar capacity and a 2MW/0.5MWh battery storage system, coupled with Carnegie’s CETO6 off-shore wave energy generation technology.
The project which includes $2.5 million in support from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA).
ARENA CEO Ivor Frischknecht said the project represented the next generation of Carnegie’s wave technology and is expected to demonstrate the viability of integrating a renewable energy-based microgrid with a utility-scale distribution network.
“It will be the first time wave energy will be integrated into a microgrid, and if successful this diverse technology system could set a great new exportable opportunity for Australia to island nations around the globe,” Frischknecht said.
Island nations regularly face costly and unreliable energy supply issues, often reliant on expensive diesel fuel generators.
Carnegie’s CETO6 off-shore wave energy generation technology was developed at the same site with ARENA funding support.
The system is a small-scale power grid designed to operate independently or in conjunction with the Western Australian electricity network’s main electrical grid, seamlessly transferring between the two modes: off-grid and island mode. The two modes of operation will demonstrate the system’s future application for a range of fringe-of-grid and off-grid scenarios.
“ARENA is excited to help local companies like Carnegie develop new renewable energy solutions that have the potential to change the way the world generates power,” Frischknecht said.
Construction will begin before the end of the year and is expected to be operational by mid-2017.