Carnegie’s CETO 6 Project On Track

Wave energy developer, Carnegie Wave Energy Limited, has reported a commercial and technical progress with its CETO 6 Project also to be located off Garden Island.

Carnegie has now reached financial close on the previously announced Clean Energy Finance Corporation’s (CEFC) five-year, $20 million loan facility which will part fund the Project.

The CEFC facility will be used to part fund the construction of the project and will reduce the amount of equity Carnegie would otherwise require for the Project.

The CETO 6 Project is also supported by an $11m grant from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA).

Carnegie’s Chief Financial Officer, Aidan Flynn, said; “Reaching financial close on the CEFC facility is a watershed moment for Carnegie as this is the first time ever that Carnegie has achieved a pure debt finance deal. It follows on from the commissioning of the Perth Wave Energy Project and is representative of the maturing nature of the CETO technology. It now gives Carnegie the certainty of capital and cash flows to build this important commercial version of the CETO technology. Not only does the financial close pave the way for this project to happen it also importantly paves the way for project finance for subsequent CETO projects.”

Oliver Yates, Chief Executive Officer of the Clean Energy Finance Corporation, said: “The CEFC is pleased to be financing technology that potentially positions Australia as a world leader in the growing global ocean energy sector. Australia’s extensive coastline and largely coastal population mean we are perfectly placed to take advantage of ocean energy. Carnegie’s engineering and R&D expertise has brought the CETO 6 Project to its current stage and we look forward to seeing continued improvements as the project moves towards commercialisation.”

Carnegie has also recently been granted a Commonwealth investigation licence to undertake the site characterisation activities required to finalise the design of the Project. In addition, Carnegie has received an EPBC Referral Decision from the Federal Department of the Environment to undertake geophysical and geotechnical surveys at the proposed CETO 6 Project site. A wave buoy has already been deployed at the site to collect further detailed data about the wave resource at that location.

According to Carnegie, the conceptual design for the Project is also progressing well and is approaching completion, ahead of the detailed design phase. Completion of the conceptual design is also the second milestone in Carnegie’s $11m grant from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency’s (ARENA).