Port Kembla Wave Energy Project

Grid-connected, renewable
Location: Port Kembla, NSW

The site

The structure is positioned 200 metres from the Port Kembla Harbour breakwater. The site was chosen because it is close to the grid and heavy industry, and the project was supported by the local Council and Port Corporation. The site also has the right depth and conducive seabed conditions.

Technology

The parabolic wall, chamber and turbine are the essence of the Energetech Australia Wave Energy System. This will be the first wave energy project to use a parabolic wall to focus wave energy, and the first to use the new Energetech turbine.

Ocean waves contain enormous amounts of energy, but the energy in each crest - the type you see breaking on the beach - is generally spread out along it. A parabolic wave focuser is used to focus all the energy to one point so that it can be harnessed more readily.

"Energetech's wave energy device located in my electorate of Throsby is an exciting example of Australian ideas being developed into a sustainable,clean and commercially viable technology."
Ms Jennie George MP, Federal Member for Throsby

The oscillatory motion of a wave creates a similar oscillatory airflow through a chamber that sits above the focused energy point of the wave.Inside the chamber, airflow accelerates at the narrowest point and the Denniss-Auld turbine converts the airflow's energy into mechanical energy which drives an electrical generator.

The turbine uses a sensor system which measures the pressure exerted on the ocean floor by each wave as it approaches or enters the capture chamber. The information relayed identifies the height, duration and shape of each wave and various parameters are adjusted according to the energy characteristics of that wave.

Energy purchase and supply

The plant is expected to produce 1 GWh of electricity per annum and result in greenhouse emission reductions of approximately 1000 tonnes of CO 2 per annum (equivalent to removing approximately 230 cars from our roads each year). Power generated from the project is sold to Integral Energy under a long-term agreement. The plant is connected to the Integral network at 11 kV.

The generator, which is coupled to the Energetech turbine,operates intermittently and is accredited under the Mandatory Renewable Energy Scheme.