Carnegie Wave Energy: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 22:05, 20 November 2013

Overview

Carnegie Wave Energy Limited is company that invents and invests. They are an Australia based company, located in Fremantle Western Australia. They have invented the CETO wave technology, this feat took them ten years of research, in 2011 they completed a working model. They earn the capital by taking on investors for the various projects they undertake. To build on those investments, they sell their technology to make returns. They currently have three ongoing projects, one in Australia, France, and Ireland.

Technology

The technology utilized by the project, named CETO after a Greek sea goddess, is designed to work similar to a traditional hydroelectric generation system. High-pressure water is delivered through tubes to a generation station on shore containing hydraulic engines, in a fashion similar to penstocks feeding turbines in a dam. The water can be used to either generate electricity and then be returned to the ocean, or be desalinated by a reverse osmosis process. The proprietary uniqueness of the CETO design is that the collection buoys, named buoyant actuators, are fully submerged 1-2 below the surface, as opposed to floating on the surface as seen with traditional wave generation technology. Another unique feature is the symmetric design of the buoyant actuators, allowing them to capture and produce energy no matter what direction the waves are coming from. The buoyant actuators are anchored in the ground by a drilled and grouted foundation and attached by flexible tethers, which were adapted from offshore oil production technology. Between the tether and the foundation is a hydraulic pump, also adapted from offshore oil and gas technology. As the actuator responds to wave movement, the tethers facilitate the operation of the pump. The pump facilitates the high-pressure water delivery responsible for power generation. The current model being produced is the CETO 5 unit. It is superior to previous models, mainly due to the power generation capacity. The CETO 5 unit is capable of producing 240kW of power, three times the capacity of the third generation unit. The higher generation capacity was facilitated by enlarging the diameter of the buoyant actuator to 11m in the fifth generation unit, compared to 7m in the third generation unit and 10m in the fourth. Previous generation units are still being utilized at sites around the world.

Projects

The main project that have undertaken is the Perth Wave Energy Project or PWEP for short. This is there project that is based out of Australia, more specifically Garden Island. On this project the CETO technology was first tested and proved viable and productive. At the beginning of this project the wave technology was not tested on a grid that was connected to the shore, instead was tested to see if it could hold in the water while producing energy. The next phase of this project would be taking the units that worked in the water without the grid, and connecting them to shore. After they are connected to a grid they would be testing if they work, by using Garden Island as a testing place.

Another Project they have in the beginning stages is La Reunion Wave Energy Project. This project is based in France, in this venture they are partnered with EDF Energies Nouvelles. This project is only in the initial stages of getting funding and preparing units for installation. After the units are tested they plan to expand and install more units and create a grid of power. So far the project has acquired the backing of the French government.

The Final project they have started is in Ireland, beginning in 2011. In this project it is still in the beginning stages, they have acquired funding, it is a joint project, so they put up and the Irish government putting in the other half. They have been mapping out sites that have consistent enough waves to keep the units working. Beyond the scouting of sites and the raising of funds, this project is fairly new.

Wave Energy as a global resource

The renewability of energy source Wave Energy is considered to be of great global value. It has the capacity to be the lowest cost renewable energy resource due to its high power density wave energy. This energy source is measured in kilowatts and flows according to the direction of the wave diffusion. For CETO wave energy farms to work properly, there must be a an entry of 20kW per meter and above. The oceans wave power has the capability to double the world’s current electricity production. It has been proved that the annual energy power from waves on Australian shores equals to 1 million gigawatt hours of energy. Wave energy farms are thought to be beneficial to the USA, North & South America, Western Europe, Japan, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand.

Wave energy also has the potential to create thousands of jobs. It is believed that Global Energy Marine sector is worth $760 billion in 2050 and could employ 68,000 workers in the British field alone.

Detail of CETO buoy
Overview of CETO technology

External Links

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 ==Wave Energy as a global resource==
-The renewability of energy source Wave Energy is considered to be of great global value. It has the capacity to be the lowest cost renewable energy resource due to its high power density wave energy. This energy source is measured in kilowatts and flows according to the direction of the wave diffusion. For CETO wave energy farms to work properly, there must be a an entry of 20kW per meter and above. The oceans wave power has the capability to double the world’s current electricity production. It has been proved that the annual energy power from waves on Australian shores equals to 1 million gigawatt hours of energy. Wave is thought to be beneficial to the USA, North & South America, Western Europe, Japan, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand.
+The renewability of energy source Wave Energy is considered to be of great global value. It has the capacity to be the lowest cost renewable energy resource due to its high power density wave energy. This energy source is measured in kilowatts and flows according to the direction of the wave diffusion. For CETO wave energy farms to work properly, there must be a an entry of 20kW per meter and above. The oceans wave power has the capability to double the world’s current electricity production. It has been proved that the annual energy power from waves on Australian shores equals to 1 million gigawatt hours of energy. Wave energy farms are thought to be beneficial to the USA, North & South America, Western Europe, Japan, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand.
 Wave energy also has the potential to create thousands of jobs. It is believed that Global Energy Marine sector is worth $760 billion in 2050 and could employ 68,000 workers in the British field alone.