HOPES are high a $14 million energy project in Port Fairy will lead the world in ocean powered electricity.
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The state government has contributed $5 million to the trial demonstration which will use wave energy to power a Port Fairy site.
The project will create 23 jobs and, if successful, a potential 200 jobs could be created.
Sydney-based BioPower Systems still needs to secure $3.6m in funding before it can start the demonstration project, which is expected to begin next summer.
The project will use biomimicry. This means that the BioWAVE unit is modelled on the motion of large sea plants under the waves.
The motion is then converted into electricity.
The demonstration project will use a single 259kW unit anchored to the sea floor at a depth of 30m, about 800m from the shore and 4km west of Port Fairy.
The electricity will be transferred to Port Fairy-based abalone farm Southern Ocean Mariculture.
After five years of testing the project on land and at full scale at their Sydney factory, BioPower CEO Tim Finnigan said the ultimate test will be installing the system in the ocean.
“The technology has been positively assessed by more than a dozen independent reviewers,” Mr Finnigan said.
He said that when fully commercially developed, the system would produce electricity at a price highly competitive with wind.
“This is Australian-owned technology and it is world class. It will be built in this region and will demonstrate to the world a new source of energy.”
Southern Ocean Mariculture general manager Mark Gervis said that if the trial was successful it would be a win for all. “There is the potential for very low-impact technology,” he said.
Member for South West Coast Denis Napthine said the project would provide clean green energy to Victoria.
“This is a major investment that will deliver 23 long-term jobs over the demonstration period, in addition to the local contractors who are utilised for the construction and installation phases of the project,” Mr Napthine said.
“We are all hopeful that the trial proves successful, is cost productive and leads to an expansion and other sites along the coast.”
Southern Ocean Mariculture and Keppel Prince Engineering will also be partners in delivering the trial project.
