Credit: Carnegie Wave Energy
This is the first wave electric power generation plant connected to a grid anywhere in the world. Other things that set it apart are that it is all below water (providing a degree of protection from storms & invisible from the shore) & incorporation of a reverse osmosis desalination plant.
Energy generated by the acton of waves on the bouys is brought ashore as high pressure water. There, a hydro-electric turbine converts the energy to electricity.
Compared most other sources of renewable energy, wave energy has the advantage of being available 24 hours per day.
http://www.sciencenewspost.com/worlds-first-grid-connected-wave-power-station-switched-on-in-australia/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CETO
Carnegie Wave Energy web site
http://carnegiewave.com/ / world first grid connected grid-connected wave power station switched on in Australia also supplies zero emission zero-emission desalinated water activated coast Western Australia WA testing demonstrations Australian company Carnegie Wave Energy switched on pilot project begun feeding wave-generated electricity into local WA grid first array wave power generators connected electricity grid Australia worldwide Ivor Frischknecht CEO Australian Renewable Energy Agency provided $13 million $32 million project company’s technology named CETO Greek goddess of the sea converts ocean swell zero-emission renewable power zero-emission desalinated freshwater company system different from other wave energy devices operates under water safer from large storms corrosion invisible from the shore round submerged buoys tethered seabed pump units installed depth between 25 50 metres waves crashing buoys drive pumps push pressurised seawater through pipeline beneath ocean floor onshore hydroelectric power station high-pressure water drives turbine generates electricity high-pressure water supply reverse osmosis desalination plant replacing reducing reliance greenhouse gas-emitting electrically-driven pumps required plants Sophie Vorath RenewEconomy project sell power Australian Department of Defence supply Australia’s largest naval base HMAS Stirling Garden Island sell fresh water base Carnegie’s newly commissioned desalination plant fully integrated into the project project’s three buoys installed installation second buoy during testing phase first 240kW peak capacity CETO 5 wave unit operated successfully more than 2,000 hours Frischknecht statement larger CETO 6 units being developed four times power generating capacity Carnegie chief executive Michael Ottaviano The West Australian project much bigger versions capable of powering towns challenge scale cost make the technology bigger make our projects bigger that’s what get your costs down economy of scale wave resources Western Australia best in the world theoretically resources hit our coastline power the state /
