The Albany M4 Project: The First Open-Access Wave Energy Deployment

Abstract The paper presents the development and deployment of a wave energy converter demonstrator in Albany, on the southern coast of Western Australia. The project, funded by the Blue Economy Cooperative Research Centre (BE-CRC), the Western Australian Government, and The University of Western Australia (UWA), aims at demonstrating the potential of wave energy to decarbonise local industry, including the aquaculture industry, at demonstrating the capability of the local supply chain in undertaking complex ocean energy projects, and at advancing the development of the technology. The demonstrator is a wave attenuator called M4 for ‘Moored MultiMode Multibody’. M4 is an open access technology that has undergone extensive optimisation, with published results demonstrating high energy capture and excellent survivability. Design has been undertaken by BE-CRC partners BMT in collaboration with UWA. Data associated with mooring line loads, hydrodynamic response, power generation and biofouling have been monitored during the six-month deployment period, and preliminary results will be communicated extensively upon analysis.