Albany wave milestone payment comes with government terms

 
The government of Western Australia has agreed to pay Carnegie Clean Energy the previously negotiated milestone payment for the Albany wave energy scheme, requesting at the same time the delivery of detailed funding plan for the project from the Australian developer.

The negotiated revised first milestone payment of Au$2.6 million will be payed to Carnegie, which has, in addition to payment confirmation, received a request from the government to provide a detailed funding plan for the project in nine weeks’ time.

Upon the plan delivery, the state government will then assess whether the company has the financial capability, in an altered Federal R&D tax incentive environment, to complete the Albany Wave Energy Project (AWEP).

The federal government’s proposal to change R&D tax incentives in Australia, contained in their 2018-19 Budget, has threatened the bottom line of several Western Australian companies – from renewable energy to tech metals.

These changes emerged after the state government signed the funding agreement for the Albany wave energy technology development project.

“We are committed to renewable energy research and development in the Great Southern, to drive jobs and economic benefits for the region. This project has the potential to advance wave energy technology that otherwise would have been developed overseas,” according to the government of Western Australia.

The AWEP site is planned to be used for the introduction of the company’s new wave energy device – CETO 6. The unit has been originally slated for deployment in the 2019/2020 summer weather window.