$2.77 million loss accompanies Carnegie’s CETO deployment push

CETO reaches the offshore deployment stage

Carnegie Clean Energy Limited (ASX:CCE) is approaching its most consequential technical milestone: the staged deployment of a CETO wave-energy unit at the Biscay Marine Energy Platform in Spain. The company says structural and electrical subsystems have completed factory acceptance testing, permits are in place, and the first stage of ocean deployment is planned for October 2026.

The ACHIEVE programme has progressed through component fabrication, onshore testing and site preparation. Carnegie has also unlocked €3.73 million in milestone payments to date, including support from the EuropeWave programme, the Basque Energy Agency and Spain’s RENMARINAS DEMOS programme. The project is intended to produce open-ocean operating data that can support future commercial arrays, rather than revenue from a completed commercial deployment.

The timing builds on the company’s CETO deployment progress, which included module assembly and regulatory approvals in Spain. Carnegie is now developing a potential 6 MW follow-on array at BiMEP, comprising up to six 1 MW CETO units, although that project remains under development and is not presented as a funded commercial project.

Losses widen while cash reserves shrink

The financial statements provide a less forgiving backdrop. Revenue rose to $453,774 for the year ended 30 June 2026, largely from electricity sales at the Garden Island Microgrid, but the group recorded a net loss of $2.77 million, compared with a $2.33 million loss a year earlier. Operating cash outflow was $3.09 million, leaving cash and cash equivalents of $996,347 at year-end, down from $2.90 million.

Carnegie’s net assets stood at $18.85 million, including an $18.88 million CETO development asset. That asset is not yet ready for use and is valued using a model based on forecast royalty streams, a 15-year forecast period, a 4% midpoint royalty rate and a 19% discount rate. The auditor identified the carrying value of the intangible asset as a key audit matter because of the judgement involved.

Funding has bought time, not removed the financing test

The annual report includes an explicit material uncertainty related to going concern. Directors said Carnegie will need sufficient operating revenue or additional funding through sources including equity, loan extensions and grants to continue as a going concern. The report also says the company expects net operating cash outflows until it achieves positive cash flow.

After year-end, Carnegie raised $2.5 million through a private placement at $0.18 a share and extended its existing $2.5 million loan maturity to June 2027. The loan facility was subsequently increased by a further $1 million to $3.5 million. Those steps strengthen near-term liquidity, but they also leave the company reliant on continued funding while CETO remains in the development phase. The placement was previously reported as a $2.5 million share placement for European and US expansion, ACHIEVE deployment and the MoorPower pilot.

Commercial pipeline remains largely prospective

Beyond utility-scale CETO, Carnegie completed preliminary design work for a MoorPower commercial pilot aimed at replacing diesel generation on offshore aquaculture feed barges. It is discussing potential partners for a first commercial pilot, while a US Department of Energy TEAMER project is examining wave-energy integration with offshore fish-pen arrays.

The company also points to defence applications after receiving the Australian Defence Force’s Power and Energy Innovation Award for its “Energy Autonomy at Sea” proposal. Separately, the EU-funded COIN project is using CETO as a reference technology in work targeting a 30% reduction in the cost of energy. These programmes may broaden the addressable market, but the report does not attach commercial revenue or deployment dates to those opportunities.

October deployment is the immediate proof point

For Carnegie, the next test is physical rather than promotional. Foundations, power-take-off modules, controls, cabling and offshore works must come together at BiMEP, with the company flagging supplier quality, vessel availability, weather and unplanned maintenance as risks to schedule and cost.

A successful staged deployment would give Carnegie the operating data it says is needed to attract partners for the proposed 6 MW array. The harder question is whether that milestone can arrive quickly enough, and at manageable enough cost, to bridge the gap between a technically advancing prototype and a business that can fund itself.