West Australian
Wednesday 3/9/2008 Page: 58
Carnegie Corporation has moved a step closer to its Albany wave energy farm ambitions after a preliminary environmental review said it appeared unlikely to he scuttled on environmental grounds. Commissioned as part of a feasibility study being undertaken by Carnegie at the Albany site, the report said that, based on available information, "it appears unlikely there would be any 'fatal flaws' in the proposed development due to environmental considerations".
While the report means Carnegie has hurdled an early potential obstacle, it still has a long way to go to hit its aim of producing power by 2011, with the project still subject to further environmental surveys and Environmental Protection Authority approval. The company said it might also need to change some aspects of the project to incorporate environmental considerations, although the extent of alterations would not be known until further studies were done.
Carnegie managing director Michael Ottaviano said the "extremely positive" outcome was a good first step in a long environmental process. Carnegie hopes to use its so-called CETO technology to create a wave energy farm at Albany, where the State Government has granted it a five-year exclusive licence over 30,000 hectares of offshore and onshore land. The technology uses submerged buoys and seabed pumps to deliver pressurised seawater via a pipeline to drive hydro turbines onshore and generate electricity. Shares in Carnegie slipped 0.5¢ to 15.5¢.
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