Green light for subsea solar cable

The Australian Government has approved a groundbreaking renewable energy project poised to become the world’s largest solar initiative.

SunCable, the startup behind the Australia-Asia Power Link (AAPowerLink) project, plans to harness a portion of the 58 million petajoules of solar energy that Australia receives each year and send it overseas via a 4,300 km subsea cable.

The ambitious project will harvest green electricity from the Northern Territory to help decarbonise the Asia Pacific region where electricity demand is forecast to increase 70% by 2040 according to International Energy Agency estimates.

This milestone approval from the Commonwealth Government, made under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) Act, closely follows last month’s environmental green light granted by the Northern Territory Government.

Once completed, the AAPowerLink project will deliver industrial-scale electricity to customers in Darwin and Singapore, marking it as one of the most extensive green energy infrastructure endeavours in history.

"SunCable is a company founded on a vision to help decarbonise the planet. Today’s announcement is a vote of confidence in the project and SunCable itself..."

SunCable’s managing director, Cameron Garnsworthy, hailed the government’s approval as a "landmark moment" following an exhaustive process of public consultation. 

“SunCable is a company founded on a vision to help decarbonise the planet. Today’s announcement is a vote of confidence in the project and SunCable itself as responsible stewards of the local Northern Territory environment,” Garnsworthy said.

With environmental approvals in place, SunCable will advance to the next phase of the project. This includes negotiating Indigenous Land Use Agreements (ILUAs) with Traditional Owners in the Northern Territory, engaging with Singapore's Energy Market Authority on the subsea cable interconnector, and collaborating with the Indonesian Government on regulatory matters.

SunCable says the AAPowerLink is projected to inject over A$20 billion into the Northern Territory's economy and create thousands of jobs during its construction and the first 35 years of operation.

A Final Investment Decision (FID) is anticipated in 2027, with electricity supply slated to begin in the early 2030s.

SunCable, which was founded in 2018 with the goal of developing the world’s first intercontinental power grid, faced a setback in January last year when it entered voluntary administration. However, the company has since resumed operations under new ownership led by Grok Ventures.