First Ever Energy Grid to Harvest Wave Power is a Leap for Renewable Energy

Harnessing wave power may be the energy of the future. Carnegie and Western Power are collaborating to deliver a world first wave-integrated island microgrid project.

Carnegie Wave Energy, an Australian wave power company, announced that it would be working with the Australian government-owned energy company Western Power in order to create the world's first wave energy island microgrid that's connected to an electricity network.

The Garden Island Microgrid Project (GIMG) will consist of the CETO 6 Project currently in progress and the existing reverse osmosis deslanizaiton plant currently operating on Garden Island. However, it will add an additional 2MW peak of solar photovoltaic (PV) power generation and sufficient energy storage to allow safe, stable and reliable interaction with the electricity grid.

"Carnegie sees great potential to integrate its world leading CETO wave technology into islands as well as fringe of grid applications wherever there is a strong wave resource," said Michael Ottaviano, Carnegie CEO, in a news release. "Western Australia presents itself as an attractive option to locate wave power projects in coastal communities and avoid building and maintaining long transmission lines."

So how does it work? CETO units are essentially fully submerged buoys, called buoyant actuators, that are tethered to a pump on the seafloor. The buoyant actuators move along with the waves transferring energy through the tether to the pump that sends pressurized fluid onshore to power a hydroelectric power plant.

The new effort could be huge when it comes to renewable energy. By harnessing wave power, electricity can be supplemented in a region.

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