The Federal Government has given environmental approval to build Australia’s biggest solar energy project.
Renewable energy company SunCable says its Australia-Asia Power Link will deliver power to Darwin and Singapore from a 12,000 hectare solar ‘farm’ in the Northern Territory.
In a statement, the Federal Government said the approval included “strict conditions” to protect species in the region.
Background
Energy company SunCable was founded in 2018. It received its first approval for the Power Link from the NT Government in 2019.
Later that year, the company secured the backing of Australian billionaires Mike Cannon-Brookes and Andrew ‘Twiggy’ Forrest.
In January 2023, SunCable entered voluntary administration after Cannon-Brookes and Forrest failed to agree on funding plans. Cannon-Brookes then took control of SunCable and the Power Link.
Project
SunCable says the Power Link will be “the world’s biggest integrated renewable energy and battery storage facility.”
It’s set to be built in the NT’s central Barkly region. Electricity generated by the plant will be transmitted to Darwin and then onto Singapore via 4,300km of underwater cable.
SunCable predicts the project will deliver more than $20 billion in economic value to the NT and support an average of 6,800 jobs for every year of construction. It hopes to begin energy supply “in the early 2030s”.
Approvals
This week, the Power Link project received environmental approval from the Federal Government. It comes after the NT Government gave environmental approval last month.
The project still needs final approvals from the Indonesian Government to extend undersea cables through its waters to Singapore.
SunCable says it’s also continuing to negotiate Indigenous Land Use Agreements (ILUAs) with Traditional Owners in the NT.
Opposition
Shadow Energy Minister for Climate Ted O’Brien said the Opposition wanted more detail on the project’s potential environmental impact.
He acknowledged that while the Coalition “doesn’t have access to the same information” as the Government, “it’s extraordinary to think there are no environmental concerns across a mammoth 12,000 hectare proposal”.
