Australia funds utility-scale wave power station
11 November 2009
Four renewable energy projects will receive AU$235 million from the federal government in Australia, including a 19 MW wave farm off the coast of Victoria.
The Australian subsidiary of
Ocean Power Technologies has received AU$66.5m to build the wave power facility that will supply green energy to 10,000 homes. Construction will take place in three phases, starting in the second quarter of 2010.
The wave energy project will be a partnership with
Leighton Contractors and conducted through Victorian Wave Partners, a company formed by Ocean Power Technologies Australasia and Leighton following an agreement signed in December 2008. It will be the first commercial-scale ocean energy project in Australia and will use OPT’s PowerBuoy technology.
"The PowerBuoy® is an offshore wave energy converter, most of which is submerged below the water's surface. Inside, a piston-like structure moves as the PowerBuoy® bobs with the rise and fall of the waves. This movement drives a generator, producing electricity, which is sent to the shore by an underwater cable. An OPT "power plant" will consist of an array of identical PowerBuoys® that are electrically connected to provide the desired power capacity."
Note:
It surprised quite a few investors that the Fed choose the little known Ocean Power Technologies over Carnegie Corporation's (ASX: CNM) "A Wave energy company that aims to produce electricity from fully submerged pumps which are anchored on the ocean floor. Wave energy is tapped to pressurise and pump seawater onshore where it spins turbines to generate electricity. The pressure can also delalinate salt water, using "reverse osmosis desalination" technology.
However OPT does have powerful backing with Woodside and Leighton's on-board.