Australia’s Northern Territory has granted initial approval for the world’s largest ever green energy and transmission project, which aims to deliver solar power from the land down under all the way to Singapore via a 4,300-kilometre-long undersea cable.

The AAPowerLink project is led by SunCable, an energy company founded in 2018 and focused on harnessing Australia’s sunshine and exporting it to Asia. The latest move by the federal division effectively gives the go-ahead to the firm’s Australia-Asia Power Link (AAPowerLink) to take it towards Final Investment Decision (FID).

From telegraph outpost to green energy powerhouse

If the project can successfully find a way to agree the land use with traditional owners and secure financing and other approvals needed, work will begin with the construction of a solar farm or “precinct” at Powell Creek in the Barkly Region, where an ancient telegraph outpost recalls another vast intercontinental infrastructure endeavour from days gone by – the Australian Overland Telegraph Line, completed in 1872.

152 years later, and the Northern Territory and Australia as a whole are looking forward to a slated AUD 20-billion (€ 12.3 billion) economic boost from off-shoot businesses and suppliers, as well as the reduction in energy costs the site will offer. 

12,000-hectare solar installation

Aligning with national carbon transition goals, the 12,000-hectare solar installation is expected to generate 17-20 GW (at peak times) and a minimum of 10 GW from its expanse of photovoltaic (PV) arrays. For reference, the Commonwealth’s largest power station to date is coal-fired Loy Yang, Victoira, which has a capacity of 3.6 GW.

Included in the preliminary approval is an 800-km overhead transmission line from the solar farm and its utility-scale storage to Murrumujuk, near Darwin. The power sent will be converted into high voltage alternating current to supply “up to 4GW of 24/7 green electricity to green industrial customers” there.

Cable to Asia

In addition, 1.75 GW will be sent through 4,300 km of submarine HVDC cables to Singapore. The environmental green light will also permit SunCable to continue past the Darwin converter station and beyond Australian territorial waters right over to the Indonesian border.

“SunCable is delighted to receive environmental approval from the Northern Territory Government to proceed with our flagship Australia-Asia Power Link project. This approval allows us to progress the development, commercial, and engineering activities required to advance the project to Final Investment Decision targeted in 2027,” SunCable Managing Director, Cameron Garnsworthy, commented on the link’s progress.