Key Challenge
Australia’s Aquaculture sector is in a period of disruption, increasing cost pressures, diversification, and growth. Aquaculture operators are predominately reliant on diesel generation for marine activity in ocean-based operations, while shore-based facilities, such as processing, use increasingly volatile grid supplied electricity typically with diesel backup power.
The industry is facing increasing regulatory, stakeholder, and consumer pressures to respond to sustainability issues, such as reducing emissions and their carbon footprint. Securing sources of perpetual, reliable, affordable, secure and low risk clean energy is paramount for future prosperity in the face of these escalating pressures.
The Decarbonisation Thesis
Land-based microgrids, or distributed energy systems, are well known and proven small-scale electricity networks consisting of multiple sources of renewable energy generation, generally designed to support off-grid situations. While solar, wind and battery storage are proven energy generation sources, there is a new renewable energy source to evaluate.
It is theorised that the addition of renewable ocean (wave and/or tidal) energy combined with other renewable energy generation sources, including storage, will create a more reliable, affordable, sustainable and pragmatic source of energy supply than a typical solar/ battery storage solution.
If the theory is proven, inclusion of a wave or tidal energy generation source in a hybrid microgrid will reduce aquaculture’s reliance on battery storage and backup diesel, and provide a dependable, low-cost source of clean energy.
Southern Ocean Mariculture – Port Fairy
About Project “AquaGrid”
To achieve key goals of their 2020 – 2025 Strategic Plan, the Fisheries Research and Development Corporation (FRDC) launched a co-investment program to “develop scalable alternative energy solutions for aquaculture” to strengthen the resilience of Australian aquaculture to a changing climate and help the sector decarbonise. Project “AquaGrid”, submitted by Climate KIC Australia in partnership with Australian Ocean Energy Group (AOEG), was selected by FRDC for project investment and are a “early mover project” within Seafood Industry Australia’s (SIA’s) overarching 3-year aquaculture decarbonisation program.
Based on the energy requirements of Southern Ocean Mariculture, AquaGrid’s aquaculture technical specialist, the project will look beyond the single source of solar energy to design a microgrid energy system with the addition of wave energy plus storage. Project AquaGrid intends to uphold the hypothesis and document ocean energy’s contribution to building a reliable energy network based on the best combination of renewable energy sources (‘the sum is greater than the parts’).
Project AquaGrid will:
- Document the process and methodology to co-design an integrated ocean renewable energy microgrid system.
- Develop a Non-technical Industry Guide for to assist other aquaculture operators to pursue development of similar systems. Includes Decision Tool screening for suitable use cases of the AquaGrid (alignment to value proposition) for aquaculture operators to self-assess suitability of microgrids for their sites.
- Document an Implementation Requirements Guide from the process and decision methodology used to co-design an integrated ocean renewable energy microgrid system at the case study site. Includes a checklist of requirements and considerations to design and build the system.
Project AquaGrid does NOT include building the system. The project is a feasibility assessment only. The results will be directly shared with industry at Seafood Directions 2024 in Hobart, Tasmania and the International Conference on Ocean Energy in Melbourne, Victoria. Both conferences will be held in September 2024. In addition, the project’s guidance documentation will be announced and distributed via a national media campaign and other communication channels later in 2024.
Project Development Timeline
High Level Approach
A multi-criteria framework is being used to evaluate a variety of system configuration scenarios, alongside key business and operational considerations. This assessment will be conducted, and a final system recommendation provided by July 2024.
Key Finding and Results
Ocean Energy
Results confirmed that ocean energy is a valuable renewable energy contributor to SOM’s land-based microgrid, diversifying the typical solar/battery storage solution.
Conceptual illustration of the ocean energy microgrid design for SOM, utilizing AZURA wave devices.
Emissions Reduction
The inclusion of wave energy led to a significant reduction in emissions ~55% reduction using 2 x 100kw wave energy converters, and approximately 94% reduction using 4 x 100kw wave energy devices.
“After installation of AquaGrid, net-zero is well within reach for SOM to achieve well before 2050…” (Deloitte Emissions Solutions, Project AquaGrid)
Additional Key Findings/Results
- Energy reliability. Ocean energy provides 24/7 electricity generation, helping to offset intermittency of other renewable generation. It contributed a “smoothing” element to electricity production.
- Reduced battery storage. Battery storage was significantly reduced through the addition of wave energy in the off-grid scenario.
- Reduced grid-supplied electricity. The amount of purchased electricity is replaced by the renewable energy supplied by the ocean energy microgrid system.
- Scalability. The modelling demonstrated that additional ocean energy devices can be added to the microgrid system, leading to increased energy production and reduced emissions.
- Export excess energy to the grid. Additional electricity produced from adding wave energy device exceeding SOM’s energy needs may be exported to the grid.
- Wave device innovation. The need to regulate the peaks and troughs of the generation cycle to the shore based microgrid controller system resulted in design changes leading to improved energy flow management integration.
- Other Benefits.
– Separate battery storage was avoided and need for additional land.
– Future proofs for variable loads.
– Reduced exposure to grid price fluctuations.
For additional information about the project, please contact any of the Team members listed below
