The two winners were announced the Australian Clean Energy Summit Gala Dinner in Sydney. Carnegie Wave Energy was presented with the Clean Energy Council Innovation Award for its CETO technology while Windlab picked up the Clean Energy Council Community Engagement Award for its community ownership programme at the Coonooer Bridge Wind Farm in Victoria.
“Carnegie’s three-unit array with the Department of Defence in WA is currently the only grid-connected wave energy project in the world, and produces both renewable energy and desalinated water” said Clean Energy Council Chief Executive Kane Thornton. “The judges said it was an important and pioneering project with genuine commercial potential, and I couldn’t agree more.”
Mr Thornton added that innovative new renewable energy projects continued to inspire the rest of the industry and that Carnegie’s success with CETO was undeniable. Effective community engagement shouldn’t be under-estimated, given the amount of new renewable energy that would be built over the next five years. Windlab’s community ownership program at Coonooer Bridge in Victoria has allowed those living near wind farms to have a collective sense of ownership of the project, and help to make the company a part of the local community.
The full list of finalists for the awards included Standards Australia, TransGrid, Hydro Tasmania and Infigen Energy alongside Carnegie Wave Energy and Windlab.
The Australian Clean Energy Summit runs from 15th to 16th July at the Hilton Sydney and is hosted by the Clean Energy Council. The event provides delegates with the latest political, financial, business and technology developments impacting the renewable energy sector.
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