Carnegie Wave Energy and Windlab were the winners at the Clean Energy Council’s Industry Awards.
Carnegie took out the Innovation Award for its CETO technology which creates both emissions-free electricity and desalinated water.
The Perth-based company is demonstrating the technology at Garden Island near Rockingham south of Perth. Three submerged buoys drive seabed pump units to deliver high pressure seawater onshore via a subsea pipe to standard hydroelectric turbines, generating zero-emission electricity. The high-pressure water can also be used to supply a reverse osmosis desalination plant.
The demonstration began supplying power to the naval base HMAS Stirling earlier this year. Other projects are planned around the world in Bermuda, Britain, Canada and Ireland.
Clean Energy Council Chief Executive Kane Thornton said innovative new renewable energy projects continued to inspire the rest of the industry, and Carnegie’s success with its CETO technology over the last year was undeniable.
“Carnegie’s three-unit array with the Department of Defence in WA is currently the only grid-connected wave energy project in the world, and produces both renewable energy and desalinated water,” Thornton said.
“The judges said it was an important and pioneering project with genuine commercial potential, and I couldn’t agree more.”
Windlab won the Community Engagement Award for its community ownership program at its Coonooer Bridge Wind Farm in western Victoria.
Photo: One of the CETO buoys being installed.