fbpx
Climate Tech

The giant Cannon-Brookes-backed SunCable solar farm in Central Australia just got approved

- August 21, 2024 2 MIN READ
5b solar panels
The wildly ambitious SunCable renewable energy project, which plans to build Australia biggest solar farm in the Northern Territory, has been approved by the federal government.

Officially known as the SunCable Australia-Asia PowerLink (AAPowerLink), the 12,000 hectare solar farm  – that’s 3000x the MCG precinct – will be built on a pastoral station between Elliot and Tennant Creek. The 17-20-gigawatt (GW) solar farm will also have 42GWh of battery storage. It’s roughly four times the size of the current Snowy Hydro scheme, generating enough power for 3 million homes.

The approval by federal environment minister Tanya Plibersek also includes an 800km transmission line to Darwin and an underwater cable to the end of Australian waters.

The $30 billion project is hoping to lay the world’s longest undersea high voltage direct current cable system, 4,200km long, to transmit the power from Darwin to Singapore.

Minister Plibersek took a swipe at the Coalition’s push for nuclear energy in announcing the approval, saying it will deliver more than $20 billion in economic value to the Northern Territory and support an average of 6,800 direct and indirect jobs annually during the construction phase.

“The energy generated by this project is almost six times the amount of energy a 700MW large nuclear reactor could deliver,” she said

“Not only will this project help turn Australia into a renewable energy superpower, it will be a huge boost for the Northern Territory economy.

“It will mean more 14,300 new jobs in northern Australia, and it will turbocharge our research and manufacturing capacity in renewable technology.

The project hit strife 18 months ago when Cannon-Brookes and fellow investor Andrew Forrest fell out over the strategic vision for the energy startup and SunCable was placed in voluntary administration. Cannon-Brookes then lent the business $65 million amid a battle for control before he won, in joint venture between with his family VC Grok Ventures and Canadian infrastructure giant Quinbrook.

Swinburne renewable energy expert Professor Mehdi Seyedmahmoudian says that the approval is a significant milestone.

“SunCable’s PowerLink is a landmark project that not only showcases the potential of renewable energy but also highlights the critical role of advanced electrical engineering in driving the global transition to a sustainable energy future,” he said.

“From an electrical engineering perspective, this project is groundbreaking due to its scale and technological ambitions.

“For engineers, researchers, and policymakers, this project serves as a model for future large-scale renewable energy initiatives, demonstrating how innovative engineering solutions can overcome geographic and technical challenges to deliver clean energy across borders.”

The project is also a big win for Tasmania, with SunCable planning to build a $1 billion cable manufacturing plant near Launceston for the 4200km underwater power line.