Swedish engineering group SKF has entered into a technology partnership with Australian-based Carnegie Clean Energy to support the development and commercialisation of the CETO wave energy system, the companies announced on Thursday.
Under the agreement, SKF will contribute to the design and manufacture of Carnegie’s power take-off (PTO) units, a critical component of its fully submerged wave energy technology. The CETO system uses a buoy located a few metres beneath the ocean surface to capture wave motion and convert it into electricity through the PTO mechanism.
The partnership builds on previous collaboration between the two companies. SKF initially contributed to bearing and shaft design work for the PTO system and has now been awarded a contract to supply three complete PTO units for an upcoming CETO deployment at the Biscay Marine Energy Platform off the coast of the Basque Country, Spain.
“Our existing partnership evolved over time from single rotating equipment components to a fully integrated power take-off system which we have been jointly developing with the Carnegie team,” said Michael Baumann, global application account manager for ocean energy at SKF. “We are proud to be part of this journey and are looking forward to commercialising the technology going forward.”
Carnegie CEO Jonathan Fievez said the partnership marks a key step in strengthening the company’s supply chain. “By leveraging SKF’s established expertise and advanced technologies, we are ensuring CETO maintains its position as a leading wave energy solution for the long term,” he said. “We are very pleased to collaborate with SKF, a global rotating equipment and precision manufacturer with production capacity that can match the intended CETO scale-up.”
The agreement comes as SKF expands its presence in the marine renewables sector. The company recently partnered with Minesto on tidal energy kite systems in the Atlantic and signed a memorandum of understanding with Proteus Marine Renewables and GE Vernova to collaborate on large-scale tidal stream projects.
