There’s no question that West Australians love the ocean and we now have yet another reason to be enamoured with the sea. A new wave energy generator, positioned off Fremantle, is showing great results in its recent trials.
The new feature on Fremantle’s seascape – a wave energy generator – is achieving international attention and excellent results in early production trials.
Known as the CETO wave energy generator, it’s been positioned on the sea floor to start trial production of electricity and fresh water without using fossil fuel. The prototype, which is 20m long, 10m wide and 5m high is deployed in about eight metres of water close to shore. And, unlike other wave energy technologies, CETO doesn’t require undersea grids and costly marine-based plant equipment. Instead this generator needs only a small diameter pipe to carry high pressure seawater ashore so that it can drive a turbine to produce electricity and into a reverse osmosis plant to produce fresh water.
In fact, the prototype is anticipated to generate up to 100 kilowatts of electricity which is enough power for 100 homes. It also is expected to produce around 300,000 litres of fresh water a day. The anticipated outcomes confirm the importance of this technology given the pressing worldwide demand for both the production of power and water from a clean, renewable energy source.
While the company that owns the technology is Renewable Energy Holdings (REH) – a company listed on the London Stock Exchange specifically to invest in cutting-edge renewable energy technology – CETO was designed by Alan Burns, developed by WA company Seapower Pacific and constructed using local industry.
REH recently released information about the first phase of trials and has said that CETO has successfully transmitted high pressure seawater to the shore at a rate that is in excess of 500psi. The good news is that this is well within the design parameters of what is required to generate electricity using Pelton wheel turbines onshore.
With this validation of the technology, the company is now looking for a commercial development site offshore in the UK or Ireland, which is an excellent outcome for a WA-originated renewable energy innovation and for the environment.
If you are interested in finding out more about renewable energy in Western Australia, see the Sustainable Energy Development Office website at: www.sedo.energy.wa.gov.au
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