Carnegie Wave Energy is the first company in the southern hemisphere to generate electricity from the ocean's wave, after successfully activating its first commercial-scale CETO unit off Garden Island in Western Australia.

 

The milestone, which comes after five years of testing its technology at selected sites across the country, means Carnegie is a step closer to producing the promised 5MW of grid-connected power from the site.

 

Carnegie's technology relies on buoys anchored on the ocean floor that use the motion of passing waves to drive pumps which then deliver pressurised water to shore.

 

The company will monitor power produced at the Garden Island site over the next month and if all goes to plan, will eventually install up to 30 units, enough to produce power for 3500 homes.

 

Carnegie managing director Michael Ottaviano said yesterday the unit was producing power "exactly as expected".

 

"This is the most significant milestone in Carnegie's history," Dr Ottaviano said.

 

The Western Australian Government has invested $12.5 million in Carnegie's efforts to bring its CETO technology to market.

 

But despite Australia's reliable wave source, the company has increasingly been forced to look overseas for development funds.

 

In 2009, it scrapped plans to develop the world's biggest wave power project near Albany after it was overlooked for a major Federal Government grant.

 

The $300 million pilot project had aimed to produce 50MW of power, enough electricity for 30,000 homes.