Australian Marine Energy Taskforce Statement

Albany Wave Energy Project critical to future growth of global ocean renewable energy sector

Over 100 members of the Australian and international ocean energy community convened at the Australian Ocean Renewable Energy Symposium (AORES) to pursue collaboration and unlock the growth of the Australian ocean renewable energy sector.

The vision and collective desire is clear: the Australian ocean energy community has the knowledge, capability and drive to play a critical role in the emerging global ocean energy industry.

The Australian Marine Energy Taskforce thanks ARENA and the Western Australian Government for its commitment to this sector. The WA Government’s funding for UWA’s Wave Energy Research Centre and Carnegie’s Albany Wave Energy Project has been a key catalyst bringing the global ocean energy community here to Perth and bringing developers and researchers together.

Western Australia can no longer solely rely on mining for its future economy. Ocean collaboration unlocks work opportunities, overseas funding and global recognition to the State as well as creating an environment for attracting overseas companies to develop new technologies in WA.

The Symposium evidenced the great excitement about the potential for Albany to become the hub of wave energy in Australia. One of the many themes consistently emerging from presentations and discussions at the symposium is that Albany, Western Australia is truly one of the best sites in the world for wave energy and should be supported while it demonstrates the future of wave technology globally.

The symposium, supported by the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA), brought together industry, academics, policy makers and other stakeholders to share information on the latest domestic developments and scientific advancements. International ocean energy leaders, both from industry and academia travelled to Perth to deliver keynotes and establish exciting collaborative relationships with the Australian ocean energy community, such as the following:

• In addition to integrating resources and support to advance the Albany Wave Energy Project, the industry committed to exploring new market opportunities for wave energy technologies in the Western Australian region, such as subsea and offshore energy applications.
• International wave energy companies, researchers and other subject-matter-experts expressed strong interest in coming to Western Australia to pursue ocean energy development initiatives, such as making use of Carnegie’s existing Garden Island demonstration site.
• The industry will seek to build collaboration with the offshore energy sector to solve common issues, such as marine growth on structures and establishing regulatory consistency. These shared issues could lead to significant cost reductions for wave energy companies.

Australia’s ocean energy future: https://youtu.be/rLaIHxanat4

MEDIA CONTACT
Stephanie Thornton
Manager, Australian Marine Energy Taskforce
M: 0458 684 018
E: Stephanie@amet.net.au

About Australian Marine Energy Taskforce
The Australian Marine Energy Taskforce is a working group of Australia’s wave and tidal technology developers who convened in 2016 to work together to reduce the barriers leading to commercialisation of the sector.

FURTHER QUOTES FOR ATTRIBUTION ON ALBANY WAVE ENERGY:
A/Professor Irene Penesis, Australian Maritime College: “We know Australia has the best wave energy resource of any country in the world and the met-ocean data being collected currently at the Albany site validates this as one of the best site for its consistent wave conditions and minimal extremes. It’s a great resource at our doorstep and our industry is leading the way internationally to develop commercially-viable technologies. We need to provide our support and embrace our future.”

Jørgen Hals Todalshaug, CorPower Ocean AB (Sweden): “Albany is clearly the site that everyone should come and test their devices at. The site has a fantastic resource with very limited extremes, which is exactly what is required for this emerging industry. During my time at the Symposium, I’ve been very impressed with the level of capability and engagement in the Australian community.”

Henry Jeffrey, University of Edinburgh (Scotland) and Chair of the European Energy Research Alliance (EERA) and the IEA Ocean Energy Systems Technology Collaboration Programme (OES): “As Chair of the International Energy Agency’s Ocean Energy Systems Technology Collaboration Programme (OES), I am very pleased that Australia has joined the international ocean energy collaboration. From participating at the Symposium this week, it is clear that Australia has a strong supply chain of industry and research providers that are able to contribute world leading expertise that complements international capabilities. This provides a great foundation for Australia to service domestic and international markets.”

Steve Rogers, CEO of Pearl Clean Energy: “To be able to test our equipment at a Perth site for the high frequency system and to be able to trial our low frequency system in Albany is a real benefit for our company’s growth plans. Without the Albany facility we will have to consider moving to Europe or the UK to find the right environment for further development.”

Simon Renwick, CEO of ROC Technologies: “The wave energy density off the coast of Western Australia at Albany presents some of the best conditions in the world for testing our D SPAR technology. This is one of the best wave regimes for power generation and it is close to existing port and industrial facilities.”