A A$30 billion-plus ($30 billion) bid to export Australian solar power to Singapore via a 4,200-kilometer (2,600-mile) cable has taken another step forward after clearing a crucial approval hurdle.
Indonesia has recommended the route that transmission cables for the Australia-Asia Powerlink can be laid through its territorial waters, project owner Sun Cable Pty Ltd said in a statement Thursday. The government in Jakarta has also granted the subsea survey permit required, it said.
The company plans to use the high-voltage cable to supply enough electricity to meet 15% of Singapore’s demand from a giant solar and battery complex deep in the Outback.
The project, which is backed by billionaires including Atlassian Corp co-founder Mike Cannon-Brookes and Fortescue Metals Group chairman Andrew Forrest, will also supply the northern Australian city of Darwin when it starts operating in 2028.
Indonesia’s approval “brings us closer to generating and transmitting affordable, dispatchable renewable energy to Darwin and Singapore, via the world’s largest renewable energy transmission network,” said David Griffin, Sun Cable’s CEO.
Similar proposals for long-haul, transnational power shipments have been considered in other regions, including from North Africa to Europe and from Mongolia to Japan and South Korea.
Photo by Nuno Marques on Unsplash
