Carnegie Wave Energy has been awarded A$2.5m from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) to support the world’s first solar, battery and wave integrated microgrid project in Western Australia.
The Garden Island microgrid project will begin construction before the end of 2016 and be commissioned in the first half of 2017.
The project will involve the construction and installation of a 2MW solar PV array, a 2MW/0.5MWh battery storage system, and a control system integrated with Carnegie’s Ceto 6 technology and existing desalination plant.
Chief executive Michael Ottaviano said: “The Garden Island microgrid project will be the first time anywhere in the world that wave energy will be combined with solar and batteries in a microgrid configuration.
“The demonstration of this microgrid project will help drive the commercialisation of CETO and will be a model we will roll out to island nations around the world.”
ARENA’s innovative funding package for the estimated A$7.5m project is comprised of a grant of A$0.7m, followed by $1.8m of convertible note funding.
The ARENA convertible notes will be unsecured debt with 0% interest over a six-year term and can be converted by ARENA to ordinary shares in Carnegie at A$0.053 per share.
Image: Ceto 5 (Carnegie)
