Grant moves wave-energy desalination pilot forward

Work is now starting on the wave-energy desalination demonstration pilot plant being undertaken by Carnegie Wave Energy on Garden Island off the west coast of Australia.

The project has been awarded a Aus$ 1.27 million (US$ 1.31 million) grant from the Clean Technology Innovation Program.

The plant will be directly powered offshore by hydraulic energy from a Carnegie Ceto wave-energy system. The aim is to demonstrate that Ceto desalination technology has the potential to significantly and sustainably reduce the amount of electricity consumed, and hence the associated greenhouse gas emissions produced, by desalination plants.

“Work has already begun on advancing the design and securing approvals for the desalination project, as well as planning for its integration into delivery of the Perth Wave Energy Project,” said Carnegie’s CEO, Dr Michael Ottaviano.

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.