Australia’s marine energy companies have united in an industry task force to advance the commercialization of marine renewable technologies.
Tidal and wave energy developers Atlantis Resources, Bombora Wave Power, BioPower Systems, MAKO Tidal Turbines, Open Hydro, Protean Energy, Tenax Energy, Wave Rider and Wave Swell Energy have launched the Australian Marine Energy Taskforce (AMET).
In the last two years, a relatively small number of companies have spent over AU$24.5 million developing their marine technologies. A further $46 million expenditure is planned by these developers in the next two years1.
Stephanie Thornton, AMET Honorary Secretary said,” the launch of our industry body coincides with the recent announcement of a federal government ARENA funded $5.85 million project to map Australia’s tidal energy potential, the Western Australia government’s $19.5 million commitment to develop a Wave Energy Center in Albany and completion of the Wave Energy Atlas by CSIRO.
“This state and federal government support underpins Australia’s commitment to embrace marine energy as part of Australia’s renewable energy mix. These publicly funded initiatives will provide scientific validation of the energy potential from Australia’s wave and tidal resources.”
These three initiatives form the building blocks toward preparing a commercialization strategy. AMET is working to produce a commercialization plan which will define specific actions needed to lower the barriers to development and bring marine energy to maturity in Australia.
The action plan will lead to commercial application of wave and tidal energy technologies in local energy generation projects, reduce costs and expand export market opportunities. It will define the place for marine energy in our country’s energy supply and outline the investment rationale.
A range of technical, economic, policy, legal, research, financial, market and organizational topics will be knitted together to form a cohesive strategic approach to growth.
The plan will ensure that finite resources are devoted to the highest-priority, highest-impact actions in the near term while laying the groundwork for long-term growth.