WA wave energy project crucial to global development

wave energy
Image: Australian Marine Energy Taskforce/YouTube

Carnegie’s Albany Wave Energy Project in Western Australia has been touted as crucial to future growth of the global ocean renewable energy sector.

More than 100 members of the Australian and international ocean energy community convened at the Australian Ocean Renewable Energy Symposium (AORES) to pursue collaboration and unlock the growth of the Australian ocean renewable energy sector.

The vision and collective desire was clear: the Australian ocean energy community has the knowledge, capability and drive to play a critical role in the emerging global ocean energy industry.

The Australian Marine Energy Taskforce thanked ARENA and the Western Australian Government for its commitment to this sector. The WA Government’s funding for UWA’s Wave Energy Research Centre and Carnegie’s Albany Wave Energy Project has been a key catalyst to bring the global ocean energy community to Perth and bring developers and researchers together.

The Australian Marine Energy Taskforce said in a statement Western Australia can no longer solely rely on mining for its future economy.

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“Ocean collaboration unlocks work opportunities, overseas funding and global recognition to the state as well as creating an environment for attracting overseas companies to develop new technologies in WA,” the statement reads.

The symposium evidenced the great excitement about the potential for Albany to become the hub of wave energy in Australia. One of the many themes consistently emerging from presentations and discussions at the symposium is that Albany, Western Australia is one of the best sites in the world for wave energy and should be supported while it demonstrates the future of wave technology globally.

The symposium, supported by the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA), brought together industry, academics, policy makers and other stakeholders to share information on the latest domestic developments and scientific advancements. International ocean energy leaders, both from industry and academia travelled to Perth to deliver keynotes and establish exciting collaborative relationships with the Australian ocean energy community, such as the following:

  • In addition to integrating resources and support to advance the Albany Wave Energy Project, the industry committed to exploring new market opportunities for wave energy technologies in the Western Australian region, such as subsea and offshore energy applications.
  • International wave energy companies, researchers and other subject-matter-experts expressed strong interest in coming to Western Australia to pursue ocean energy development initiatives, such as making use of Carnegie’s existing Garden Island demonstration site.
  • The industry will seek to build collaboration with the offshore energy sector to solve common issues, such as marine growth on structures and establishing regulatory consistency. These shared issues could lead to significant cost reductions for wave energy companies.

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Watch the Australian Marine Energy Taskforce’s video on wave energy below.

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