Western Australian renewable energy company Carnegie Wave Energy has announced a breakthrough technological development in wave energy generation that the company says will catapult Australia into international leadership in the field.

 

Carnegie Wave Energy has pioneered a fully submerged wave power generator that uses a series of flooded buoys to generate uninterrupted wave energy.

 

To generate the power, the buoys are tethered to hydraulic pumps on the ocean floor which use tidal and wave movements to push seawater to generating equipment at extreme pressures.

 

Carnegie CEO Michael Ottaviano said that Australia is uniquely poised to capitalize on the development of wave and tidal energy generation.

 

"Australia, with its world class energy resource, and its world class offshore engineering expertise from the oil and gas sector, has a unique opportunity to actually grab and own a renewable energy sector and exploit it," Mr Ottaviano said.

 

The technology was developed with the assistance of a $12.5 million grant from the Western Australian Government. The company will also seek funding through the first round of the Federal Government's Clean Energy Future Fund.