The world’s first grid-connected wave energy array – the Perth Wave Energy Project off Garden Island in Western Australia – has achieved a new first: the longest continuous period of operation of any in-ocean wave energy project.

The project’s Australian developer, Carnegie Wave Energy, said the “significant milestone” was achieved last week, when the array clocked up 10,000 hours of cumulative, continuous operation.

The array, at one time comprising three of Carnegie’s home-grown 240kW CETO 5 units (see image above), had seen a wide range of sea states during this time, the ASX-listed company said, including waves of up to 5.7 metres in height.

“Achieving 10,000 hours of continuous operation is a significant milestone not just for Carnegie but for the wave energy industry as a whole,” said Carnegie Wave CEO, Michael Ottaviano.

“The industry has faced a lot of challenges, especially around reliability and survivability. By demonstrating the continuous operation of our product, we’re addressing these challenges.

“Our understanding is that this is the longest continuous period of operation any in-ocean wave energy project has ever achieved, anywhere in the world.”

In May, the first of the CETO 5 units deployed for the Perth array was retrieved from the ocean, having achieved more than 8,500 hours of operation, validating Carnegie’s ‘hot swap’ maintenance strategy.

Carnegie is currently working on a large-scale CETO 6 project, for which it secured funding in February.

The CETO 6 array site will be located around 8km further offshore from the current Perth Project, the company says, with the exact location yet to be determined. Once installed, it is expected to yield some three times more energy than the existing array.