Carnegie eyes Alaska for wave energy potential as Spain CETO project gathers momentum

Australian listed renewables developer Carnegie Clean Energy has secured a partnership deal to advance the manufacture of its proprietary CETO wave energy technology ahead of deploying it in waters off the coast of Spain.

Carnegie said in an announcement to the ASX on Thursday that it has contracted Swedish outfit SKF to manufacture three Power Take-Off units for deployment at the Biscay Marine Energy Platform (BiMEP).

Carnegie’s CETO technology, in its simplest form, is a fully submerged buoy that converts the motion of the ocean into electricity through the use of a power take-off system (PTO).  

After narrowly avoiding bankruptcy in 2019, the ASX-listed company has regained its composure in recent years, and refocused at least some of its attention onto the European market where support and finance for ocean energy technology is more forthcoming.

Carnegie’s European subsidiary, CETO Wave Energy Ireland (CWEI), was awarded a pivotal contract from funds issued by the European Union during 2023, to deploy its wave technology off the coast of Biscay in Spain, referred to as the Achieve program.

The company’s West Australia-originated technology beat out its rivals in the competitive tender across a range of key technical criteria including cost (LCOE), performance, reliability, availability and survivability – a feat Carnegie CEO Jonathan Fievez described as “remarkable.”

Prior to this week’s announcement, SKF had previously carried out early design activities relating to the bearing and shaft design of Carnegie’s PTO system to be deployed off the Spanish coast.

Carnegie says the new contract with SKF is a first step towards a long-term technical partnership on the commercialisation of the CETO wave energy technology.

“The SKF partnership reinforces our supply chain with a globally recognised leader that is capable of adding value as we progress CETO’s commercialisation pathway,” Fievez said in the statement to the ASX.

“By leveraging SKF’s established expertise and advanced technologies, we are ensuring CETO maintains its position as a leading wave energy solution for the long term.”

Also on Thursday, Carnegie signaled its expansion into the US through the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Alaskan native non-profit agency Chugachmiut.

Under the three-year MOU, Carnegie will explore the use of its CETO technology in the Chugach Region of Southcentral Alaska in partnership with the seven Native tribes in the area.

According to Carnegie, a report by the US Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) identified an estimated 3,800 gigawatts (GW) of potential wind, wave, and tidal energy resource capacity in waters of the coast of Alaska, which currently gets roughly 30% of its electricity from hydropower, but the rest from fossil fuels.

“We are thrilled to have passionate partners like Chugachmiut approaching us with a vision to deploy CETO in their communities,” Fievez said of the agreement.

“We look forward to continuing to deepen our understanding of their needs and exploring how CETO can bring sustainable and secure energy to the Chugach Region.

“With wave energy a globally distributed resource, there are so many cities and remote communities worldwide where CETO can support the energy transition, and we look forward to supporting project owners and developers worldwide.”

In Australia, with the company’s home base still in Fremantle, the focus has been on a separate technology spun out of its CETO generators, called MoorPower.

MoorPower uses a Power Take-Off (PTO) system that converts the orbital motion of waves into electricity, but rather than using a stand-alone buoy system, the scaled down technology will be designed to be integrated with moored offshore vessels.

Carnegie was in October 2021 awarded funding to install and operate a scaled demonstrator of the MoorPower technology offshore from its headquarters in North Fremantle, Western Australia.

The $3.4 million project is being delivered in collaboration with a consortium of partners including two of Australia’s largest aquaculture companies, Huon Aquaculture and Tassal Group, with $1.35 million in funding from the Tasmania-based Blue Economy Cooperative Research Centre.

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