Western Australia’s Water Corporation has signed a cooperation agreement to support the wave-powered seawater desalination pilot project proposed by Carnegie Wave Energy Ltd.
The pilot, which forms part of Carnegie’s Perth Wave Energy Project, will be the first wave-powered desalination project in the world. It will be located on Garden Island, Western Australia, home to Australia’s largest naval base, HMAS Stirling.
The Water Corporation owns two large seawater plants, which are able to supply approximately half of Perth’s drinking water needs.
Water Corporation’s CEO, Sue Murphy, said, “Seawater desalination is an important part of Perth’s long-term water supply solution, and we are focused on minimising the environmental footprint of our desalination operations. Carnegie’s wave-powered seawater desalination technology offers a novel and promising approach to achieving desalinated freshwater with zero greenhouse gas emissions.”
Key tasks ahead of construction of the desalination pilot plant include completing detailed design, securing environmental approvals and the potential integration of the construction and commissioning of the desalination pilot into the delivery of Perth Wave Energy Project. The latter will be cost-effective as it will allow both projects to be constructed at the same time and then commissioned sequentially.
The desalination pilot project is supported by Aus$ 1.27 million (US$ 1.14 milllion) in federal government grant funding from AusIndustry’s Clean Technology Innovation Program.