A project to apply wave energy to seawater desalination was one of 12 projects to receive awards from Australia’s National Centre of Excellence in Desalination (NCED) and announced at the centre’s opening on 23 July 2010.
Located at Murdoch University’s Rockingham campus in Perth, the NCED has been established to provide research and development of desalination technologies and solutions to address Australia’s water needs.
Wave energy developer Carnegie Wave Energy Ltd’s project, entitled ‘Application of CETO Wave Energy Technology to the Direct Desalination of Seawater’, will evaluate the integration of its CETO technology to produce emission-free desalinated freshwater. The project, based at NCED headquarters in Rockingham, will benefit from the close geographical proximity to Carnegie’s Perth Wave Energy Project site off nearby Garden Island and access to Carnegie’s Fremantle test facility.
The NCED leads and coordinates Australia’s research in desalination technology and is funded with Aus $20 million (US$ 18 million) in government funding and Aus$ 5 million (US$ 4.5 million) in West Australia state government funding. The centre was officially launched by Gary Gray MP on behalf the minister for climate change, energy efficiency and water, Senator Penny Wong.