Carnegie gets grant for 1st stage of 15-MW wave project in UK

Carnegie Wave Energy Ltd (ASX:CWE) has received a GBP-9.6-million (USD 12m/EUR 10.8m) grant from the European Regional Development Fund for a 1-MW project -- the first phase of a 15-MW commercial wave array in Cornwall, the UK.

The project, worth GBP 14.7 million overall, will commence immediately, the Australian company said on Sunday. It involves the design, construction, installation and operation of a single 1-MW grid-connected CETO 6 wave energy converter at the Wave Hub test site. Commissioning is expected in 2018 and will be followed by 12 months of operations.

The second stage is planned for 2020/21. It will deliver a 15-MW commercial array at the same site, offering a commercial return on investment, the company said.

"Being able to deploy our commercial generation CETO units at the purpose built, grid-connected Wave Hub test site, that also offers project expansion capability, significantly derisks and accelerates our path to commercialisation," said Carnegie's managing director and chief executive, Michael Ottaviano.

Carnegie expects to take advantage of the marine energy feed-in tariff (FiT) in the UK of an estimated GBP 305 per MWh for the second stage of the project, it said.

The company was awarded a berth at the Wave Hub facility in Hayle, Cornwall in 2014, allowing it to build a 10-MW-15-MW CETO array.

(GBP 1.0 = USD 1.246/EUR 1.123)

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