Carrickalinga’s seven year itch to be scratched with wave generator to sink beneath the waves

Seven long years after it first sank off the Carrickalinga coast, the Oceanlinx wave generator is to be partially removed, but some locals still aren’t happy.

The Oceanlinx wave generator before starting its journey to the sea bed off Carrickalinga.

The Oceanlinx wave generator which sunk off the Carrickalinga shoreline seven years ago next month will finally be dealt with, but the local ratepayers group says the solution is still “a job half done’’.

The 3000-tonne wave generator was being transported from Port Adelaide to Port MacDonnell in March 2014, when it sunk in 16m of water 1500m offshore.

It has remained there ever since, creating an eyesore for locals and since the company which owned it collapsed, a headache for the State Government.

Locals have been calling for it to be blown up or otherwise permanently removed and the process has been through two rounds of tendering in a bid to come up with a solution.

The wave generator is about 1500m offshore.

The State Government has told The Advertiser a process to remove the top of the generator, announced in late 2019, and delayed due to concerns around working in confined spaces due to the pandemic, will start later this month, and is scheduled to be completed in May.

The top of the wave generator will be removed, with the steel sections to be disposed of onshore and the upper concrete sections to be removed and placed within the main structure.

The site will be marked with a lit navigation beacon and a sign advising of a 100m

exclusion zone, warning any marine vessels to stay out of the area.

Minister for Infrastructure and Transport Corey Wingard said the saga would now “come to an end and this eyesore will forever be removed from Carrickalinga’’.

“It was important that we came up with a solution that benefits the community, while also

protecting the thriving artificial reef that has already been established on the generator below

the waterline.

A graphical representation of how the wave generator is positioned on the sea bed.

“This solution also presents value-for-money for the South Australian taxpayer as complete

removal of the generator would have cost an additional $6.5 million.’’

The environmental impacts of the removal process would be minimal in the short term, while

in the long term the sections to be sunk would create an additional artificial reef, Mr Wingard said.

The process will cost about $1 million.

Carrickalinga Ratepayers Association president Kim Baker wrote to the State Government recently saying “without full removal or making safe, the structure will remain a danger and liability on the community for many years to come”.

The association wants the structure removed entirely or at least to a much greater depth, so that it does not pose a threat to marine vessels.

Mr Baker said it would remain “a job half done” and said the local community was “very disappointed” the State Government had not listened to its pleas.

In his correspondence with the government, Mr Baker said “It is an abomination’’.

The generator was expected to produce one megawatt of electricity, which is enough to power about 1000 homes.

The $7 million project received a $4 million Federal Government grant, but following the sinking off Carrickalinga the company running the project, Oceanlinx, collapsed.

Another of the company’s prototypes sunk off Port Kembla in New South Wales.