Australia: Carnegie Wave Energy Receives First Payment for CETO Seawater Desalination Plant

Wave energy developer Carnegie Wave Energy Limited (CWE) announces that it has received $142,692 as the first payment of its $1.27m AusIndustry grant to support a CETO Seawater Desalination Demonstration Pilot Plant.

The first and subsequent grant payments support the design, construction and operation of a CETO powered Desalination Plant which will desalinate seawater to produce freshwater.

Carnegie also unveiled the award of the detailed design package for the plant to WA based MAK Industrial Water Solutions today at the Australian Water Association’s OZ Water conference in Perth. The design will allow the plant to be directly powered by hydraulic energy from an offshore CETO wave energy system. The detailed design work will include an integration methodology and plan for integration the construction of the pilot with the existing Perth Wave Energy Project construction and commissioning.

Greg Allen, Carnegie’s Chief Operating Officer, said:

“The ability of CETO to produce both clean power and water is a significant advantage. The design of the CETO desalination plant at Garden Island is a world first renewable desalination solution. This design works anywhere there are waves and a shortage of drinking water, in particular we are looking to the remote island markets around the world.”

Andy Byk, MAK Industrial Water Solutions’ Chief Executive Officer, said:

“This is a great opportunity for us and we are delighted to be working with Carnegie on this world first desalination project. Recent times have seen tremendous growth in the desalination market however the future growth will have to be underpinned by sustainable energy sources for desalination. By mechanically coupling a containerised desalination system with the CETO wave energy system we can create a truly unique renewable and sustainable desalination solution.”

The CETO desalination pilot will be co-located with Carnegie’s Perth Wave Energy Project (PWEP) on Garden Island, integrating off-the-shelf reverse osmosis desalination technology with the PWEP infrastructure. Key initial tasks ahead of construction include completing detailed design, securing environmental approvals, negotiation of a water sales agreement and, if possible, the integration of the construction and commissioning of the desalination pilot with the delivery of PWEP. The latter would be cost effective as it would allow both projects to be constructed at the same time and then commissioned sequentially.

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Press release, May 8, 2013; Image: CWE