Wave energy device deployed at Port Fairy

Ocean energy company BioPower Systems (BPS) has completed the deployment of its 250 kW bioWAVE pilot demonstration unit off the coast near Port Fairy, Victoria.

The bioWAVE device is a 26-metre-tall oscillating structure designed to sway back and forth beneath the ocean swell, capturing energy from the waves and converting it into electricity that is fed into the grid via an undersea cable. The design was inspired by undersea plants and the entire device can lie flat on the seabed, out of harm’s way, during bad weather.

The unit was deployed in the Southern Ocean by a crane-equipped ship, which transported the device to the site and lowered it into the water. The structure was angled slightly, piercing the surface like a diver to avoid any impacts from the waves, before being levelled out and landed on the seabed. Divers monitored the process from below to ensure accurate placement.

BPS has been working on the bioWAVE technology since 2006, receiving assistance in recent years in the form of $11 million funding from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) and $5 million funding from the Victorian Government. Construction and onshore testing of the unit were completed in June this year.

“BPS has overcome a range of logistical and technical challenges over the better part of a decade, taking bioWAVE through extensive research, design and testing phases,” said ARENA Acting CEO Ian Kay.

“The device will be tested and monitored throughout its operation to produce an independent performance assessment that will be shared with the energy industry in line with ARENA’s knowledge-sharing agenda.”

BPS CEO Dr Timothy Finnigan said the unit’s successful installation marks “the culmination of an intensive development phase and the beginning of a testing and demonstration phase”.

“We will now turn our attention to commissioning the plant for operation, and we aim to be delivering electricity into the grid very soon,” Dr Finnigan said.