Australian company Carnegie Wave Energy is planning to design and build the world’s first renewable energy island microgrid that integrates wave energy, solar and battery storage.

The $7.5m project, which received $2.5m support from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA), intends to independently power Garden Island off the coast of Perth, Western Australia, while reducing its reliance on expensive diesel fuel generators.

ARENA CEO Ivor Frischknecht said that the project is expected to demonstrate the viability of integrating a renewable energy based microgrid with a utility-scale distribution network.

Frischknecht said: “It will be the first time wave energy will be integrated into a microgrid, and if successful this diverse technology system could set a great new exportable opportunity for Australia to island nations around the globe.”

The project will combine 2MW of solar PV capacity and a 2MW/0.5MWh battery storage system with Carnegie’s CETO6 off-shore wave energy generation technology.

Carnegis is currently developing the CETO6 at the Garden Island. It comprises submerged buoys, which oscillate with the ocean's waves and transfer energy to a power conversion unit located inside the buoy. The generated power is then transmitted to onshore via a subsea cable.

Frischknecht added: “With limited land available, wave energy generation supported by a reliable microgrid of battery storage and solar PV could be a better, cheaper and more sustainable way to power remote coastal or island communities long-term, displacing their reliance on diesel fuel.”

Construction of the project is planned to commence before the end of this year. It is planned to be commissioned by mid-2017.

“This project is a clear example of technology progress; that given time, and with the right government support, emerging renewable energy technologies can progress along the innovation chain towards commercialization,” Frischknecht further said.


Image: The new microgrid will integrate wave energy, solar and battery storage. Photo: courtesy of WorldWideStock/ FreeDigitalPhotos.net.