Carnegie Clean Energy’s (ASX:CCE) wholly owned subsidiary CETO Wave Energy Ireland Limited has been awarded a contract (subject to signing) for Phase 2 of the EuropeWave Pre-Commercial Procurement (PCP) program.
This follows the competitive selection and successful performance of CETO in Phase 1 of the program.
EuropeWave PCP is an innovative and competitive stage-gate program designed to advance promising wave energy converter systems to a point from which they can be developed for commercial exploitation through other national/regional program and/or private investment.
CETO Wave Energy Ireland Limited was selected alongside four other companies, out of the initial seven that delivered Phase 1, to deliver Phase 2 of the program.
Phase 2 includes Front End Engineering Design (FEED), wave tank testing, power take off component testing and related certification and commercialisation activities, and will run from the end of September 2022 to June 2023.
Rigorous evaluations were carried out to progressively select the best of the competing solutions.
This selection shows the potential for the CETO technology to be a frontrunner in the European wave energy space.
Positive feedback was received in areas such as the techno-economic optimisation, approach to system performance, advanced control, levelised cost of energy (LCOE) modelling and forecasts, proposed activities, risk management and a strong and capable project team.
Phase 2 follows Concept Development in Phase 1, which delivered substantial progress in advancing the CETO prototype design and validation work through tank testing in Spain.
Following the completion of Phase 2, three of the five companies will be selected on competitive basis to continue to the final Phase 3, which includes deployment in open sea conditions at the Biscay Marine Energy Platform (BiMEP) in the Basque Country or the European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC) in Scotland.
The final phase is expected to start in September 2023 and conclude in May 2026.
With almost €20 million in funding for the 3 phases of the program, the EuropeWave PCP is a collaboration between Wave Energy Scotland (WES), a subsidiary of the Scottish Government’s Highlands and Islands Enterprise, and the Basque Energy Agency (EVE).
Carnegie’s CEO, Mr Jonathan Fiévez, commented: “EuropeWave is a driving force behind the global adoption of wave energy, aiming to identify, evaluate and fund the most promising wave energy technologies.
“Being selected to continue into Phase 2 of the program is a huge endorsement of the applicability of the CETO technology and validates our commercialisation pathway.
“This has been an incredible journey.
“Our fantastic team and consortium of partners have worked relentlessly to complete CETO’s design and tank testing campaign and test the technology’s performance in the European wave conditions.
“A number of significant improvements were made in optimising CETO’s performance and cost of energy during Phase 1, which will help in the next stage.
“EuropeWave truly aligns with our objectives to pave the way for a CETO commercial rollout and attract future project partners.
“Interest is building and it is only a matter of time for wave energy to become a key component in the renewable energy mix. We have the right technology and established partnerships to accelerate the adoption of the next big source of clean energy.”
