Australia’s search for the perfect wave is being solved with a wave energy atlas.
The CSIRO wave atlas project is mapping the wave energy potential of Australia’s vast coastline for renewable wave energy farms.
Atlas project leader Dr Mark Hemer said the project found most of Australia’s south west and southern coastline had some of the world’s best wave energy resource.
“We’ve just released a development version of the atlas,” he said.
“Obviously some people are interested, like the project developers themselves or the device developers, potential financiers, [and] marine planners trying to allocate sections of the marine resource.
“We’re trying to meet the needs of all those different groups.”
Dr Hemer said the challenge now was to bring the cost of wave energy down to the point where it was cost-competitive with the alternatives.
He said the online CSIRO atlas used data from weather stations, satellites and other sources to identify the best places for wave energy farms.
Dr Hemer said the project was also identifying the affect wave energy extraction could have on the coastal environment, from both a physical and ecological perspective.
“We want to understand how large the environmental impact is,” he said.
“By taking wave energy out, that will influence what kind of waves and currents are felt by the surrounding marine environment.
“One of the uses that people put forward for wave energy devices is a coastal management system to attenuate the energy and act as a breakwater-type system.”
The CSIRO wave atlas project is supported by The Australian Renewable Energy Agency and wave energy companies BioPower Systems and Carnegie Wave Energy, in their quest to commercial wave energy systems. To read more click here.
