For the first time in Australia’s history, a wave energy converter trial has successfully generated energy from the ocean’s chaotic and wild waves to power homes.
Key Points:
- Australia can now use the ocean to power homes after a successful trial on King’s Island to generate power
- The unit can now be traded and made up to five times larger and placed on any coast, anywhere in the world.
- Industry experts are “thrilled” with the successful pilot, hoping it will now open doors for the industry
For years, companies around the world have tried to harness the power of the ocean, with varying degrees of success.
“This is really the first project that has successfully generated electricity for a customer, and it shows that ocean energy can work,” said Stephanie Thornton of the Australian Ocean Energy Group.
Located off the coast of King Island in Bass Strait, the unit, made by Melbourne company Wave Swell Energy, has been generating power for the island’s local energy grid for the past year.
“It’s a huge success from our point of view,” said King Island Mayor Julie Arnold.
“It’s providing energy to the island, it’s renewable, it’s a method that could be used elsewhere, so we’re very happy to be pioneering it.
“We’re a community that looks at our environment every day, certainly with a lot of what’s going on around the world, I think more and more importance is placed on environmentally sustainable ways of providing energy.”
Mrs Arnold said the generator was a huge success. (ABC News: Sarah Abbott)
Australia’s first successful trial
“It’s really exciting for us,” said Paul Geason, CEO of Wave Swell Energy.
“We have been very focused on this test and demonstrating the capabilities of the technology we deployed… and now 12 months later we have achieved what we set out to do.
“We’ve been generating electricity from the Southern Ocean waves that have been captured in the unit, that was our main goal.
“This electricity is of a very high quality and has been accepted by Hydro Tasmania as suitable for the grid at King Island, so this is a very significant achievement.”
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The company said that under the right wave conditions, the UniWave200 can produce enough power for 200 homes.
“The conversion rates that we’ve been able to achieve in terms of how much electricity we can extract from the wave energy that goes into the unit are very high,” Geason said.
“On average, we’ve been able to achieve conversion rates of 48%, so 48% of the energy coming in, in the wave, is then exported to the grid at King Island.
“This rate is very encouraging and is actually higher than other renewable energy technologies.”
The company said the generator had produced enough power for 200 homes. (Provided by: Wave Swell)
Why did it work while others failed?
The team behind it said its success was down to the unique design.
The $12 million unit was built in Launceston and extensively tested at the Australian Maritime College.
It was towed to King Island last year and placed in the strong waves of Grassy Harbour.
Since then, the team has tested it in a range of harsh weather conditions.
“We have now operated the unit and it has survived for the last 12 months in the very harsh conditions of Bass Strait … and we have achieved the objectives we set out to achieve,” Geason said.
“We are now in a position where we have demonstrated the technology and the next stage is to move forward and commercialize the technology and see it as part of the global renewable energy mix.”
The design of the generator essentially mimics a natural blow hole. (Provided by: Wave Swell)
The 200-kilowatt wave energy converter has no moving parts in the water and uses an oscillating water column design, which basically mimics a natural blowhole.
The waves come in, rise and fall, and move the air up into the turbine, which is then converted into power.
It sits on the sea floor and has an opening on one side to allow the movement of waves in and out of the chamber.
The company said there was a trial in Scotland that was also being successful, but it used mainly tidal energy and lacked the borehole design.
‘Seeing is believing’
As defined by the Australian Renewable Energy Agency, wave power is generated by converting the energy of ocean waves into electricity.
Tidal energy, however, comes in two forms, both of which generate electricity.
Tidal range technologies capture the potential energy created by the height difference between high and low tides, and tidal current technologies capture the kinetic energy of currents flowing in and out of tidal areas. tide, such as sea shores.
“We have something to show that it works and now we can build on that and build the customer demand that we’re looking for,” said Stephanie Thornton of the Australian Ocean Energy Group.
“What’s really exciting to me is that seeing is believing, and so far, while there’s been a lot of innovation, a lot of the technology hasn’t been very visible.
“So with that success, from there, it’s now about seeing many more prototypes and demonstration projects in the water and being able to really show the benefits of ocean energy.”
The unit can be made five times larger than the pilot converter. (Provided by: Wave Swell)
Using the ocean for energy is a concept that many companies have tried to tap into.
In 2010, a large wave sank a wave energy generator off the coast of New South Wales, and in 2014 in South Australia, a unit was being towed into position when one of the flotation devices broke and sank.
Since then, there have been other units tested and funding committed to the research.
Can more units be made now?
A larger unit can be made that generates five times the amount of energy and could be placed on any coast in the world.
Wave Swell said it was open to working with interested companies to provide the funding and resources to build future units.
“In terms of commercial scale-up … it’s probably going to be a bigger unit and it’s going to have a bigger engine as well, so at least five times bigger,” Geason said.
“So for us, it means finding those parties and we’re going to work with them, bringing our knowledge and expertise to help them.”
King Island is located on the north coast of Tasmania in Bass Strait. (Alison Branley)
Units can also be integrated to form part of a breakwater or sea wall in the ocean (near the Pacific Island Nations, for example) to help combat sea level rise and coastal erosion
“There are sovereign governments on these islands that are very concerned about ensuring that they are building resilient infrastructure, so this presents itself as a very considerable opportunity for us as well,” he said.
“There is also interest outside of Europe, in the United States and India, so we need to identify which projects are the next step for the technology.”
“We’re hoping that maybe seeing it run here on a pilot basis can give them some hope,” Ms Arnold said.
An ocean of possibilities ahead
Wave Swell said it would “love” to see another unit operating off the Australian coast.
“Since we’re an emerging technology, the very obvious market for us is the Australian market,” Geason said.
“Australian oceans have some of the best waves in the world and well-placed waves for grid access and electricity demand, many of us live on the coast.”
But Geason said more support was needed for the industry.
“Solar and wind have received substantial government support … the wave is now in this position, it needs political support and funding, this is vital for the industry to take the next steps,” he said.
Experts in the field have said that the stigma surrounding the failure of wave energy converters must also change for the sector to move forward.
“Every technology in the world has had failures, but that’s really part of experimenting and learning from it, reinventing yourself and growing, so that’s the challenge,” Arnold said.
“In our industry, people look back on the ones that didn’t work and think, ‘Well, this is ocean energy, so it can’t be successful,’ when in fact that’s not true and this unit has proven that.
“It’s exciting … I expect the demand for ocean energy to grow from here.”
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