Wave-energy generator becomes an artificial reef after sinking off Carrickalinga, south of Adelaide, in 2014 tow
The top of the wave-energy generator that sunk off Carrickalinga in 2014 while being towed to Port MacDonnell.
A 3,000-tonne generator that sunk accidentally off the Fleurieu Peninsula coast, south of Adelaide, in 2014, created its only waves since then in the seaside town of Carrickalinga.
The residents of Carrickalinga complained that they could see to the top of the sunken wave generator rusting one and a half kilometres offshore. The South Australian government response in 2021, after a long delay, was to start removing the top section and leaving 2,500 tonnes of concrete and reinforced steel below the surface to remain as an artificial reef that was starting to thrive.
But Carrickalinga Ratepayers Association president Kim Baker said the works to remove “one twelfth” of the structure didn’t go far enough and the community wanted it removed entirely: "All that will change is the white structure at the top will go and there'll be a buoy in its place."
The $7 million Oceanlinx wave-energy generator sank during a failed attempt to tow it from Port Adelaide to Port MacDonnell in South Australia’s southeast region. The Oceanlinx company, that previously had a generator sink at Port Kembla in New South Wales, went into receivership.
Although the complete removal of the generator had been promised by Labor and Liberal state governments, that hit delays including court proceedings and survey divers finding the submerged structure "not as the drawings suggested it was".
In 2021, state transport minister Corey Wingard said that the government's new approach to take the top off the generator represented "value for money" because full removal would cost an extra $6.5 million. It also would protect the artificial reef already established below the waterline.
