Wave energy sounds like energy that has been drawn from another dimension and funnelled into the local power grid. It might not be as insane as that, but it’s certainly just as clever and almost as cool, and it’s set to power Australia’s largest naval base, HMAS Stirling in Western Australia.
So what is wave energy? Essentially it’s like a hydro-power plant without the need for gravity to throw water through a turbine.
A fleet of buoys will be submerged off the coast of Western Australia. These buoys will be connected to a sealed tubed pump unit on the ocean floor, and as the buoys move about as a result of the current, pumps in the tube will move and pressurise the water.
That pressurised water is then moved into a hydroelectric generator on-shore which generates energy as it turns. The energy is fed into the grid and powers HMAS Stirling, Australia’s largest naval base.
The Navy signed a deal with Carnegie Wave Energy for the green power gear yesterday in Western Australia. Wave energy will go live on the grid by late next year.
Image: Carnegie Wave Energy Limited