The state government of Western Australia (WA) has withheld a payment of over A$5m due to Carnegie Clean Energy for the latter's Albany wave project.
In a statement released to the Australian Securities Exchange, Carnegie said it submitted an invoice for A$5.25m to WA for the first project milestone in July but two months later it has yet to receive the funds.
The developer is in discussions around the payment and it expects to resolve the matter by the end of September, it added.
Procurement activities and timing of the project consisting of a single 1.5MW Ceto 6 point absorber device currently due online by 2020 have been impacted by proposed changes to the Australian federal government’s R&D Tax Incentive scheme, the statement said.
“Carnegie is currently seeking clarity from the federal government on whether these proposed changes are still likely to be implemented and, if so, in what form and with what effective timing,” it added.
“Any changes to the R&D tax incentive could lead to a project delay and/or the requirement to seek additional funding.”
Carnegie said its ability to continue to progress the project is constrained until the uncertainty is resolved but it will continue to progress the development of Ceto device in the meantime.
The Albany project is supported by A$15.75m from WA and A$11.7m of undrawn funding from Carnegie’s A$13m Ceto 6 grant from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency.
Source:renews
