Australia’s largest solar farm has been approved, with the potential to power three million homes, many of which are expected to be located overseas.
The Sun Cable Australia-Asia Power Link is expected to generate 4 GW of renewable energy through a solar farm in the Northern Territory, creating more than 14,000 jobs.
The 12,000-hectare solar farm, backed by Atlassian billionaire Mike Cannon-Brookes, will be built on a former agricultural property between Elliott and Tennant Creek.
The approval by Federal Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek on Wednesday includes an 800km high-voltage power line to Darwin and an underwater cable to the end of Australian waters.
Ms Plibersek said the project would boost the Northern Territory economy by creating 14,300 jobs, as well as improving Australia’s global renewable energy status.
“It will be the largest solar farm in the world and confirms Australia’s position as a global leader in green energy,” Ms Plibersek said.
‘Australians have a choice between a transition to renewable energy that is already underway and creating jobs and driving down prices, or paying for an expensive nuclear fantasy that may never become reality.’
She said the project would produce nearly six times more energy than a large 700-megawatt nuclear reactor, criticizing what she called an “expensive nuclear fantasy” promoted by the federal opposition.
The Sun Cable Australia-Asia Power Link is expected to generate 4 GW of renewable energy through a solar farm in the Northern Territory, creating more than 14,000 jobs
The 12,000-hectare solar farm, which is backed by Atlassian billionaire Mike Cannon-Brookes (pictured), will be built on a former pastoral station between Elliott and Tennant Creek in the Northern Territory
“We have no idea what the equivalent of (opposition leader) Peter Dutton’s anti-renewable nuclear plan might be because there are no details other than it is too slow and too expensive,” she said.
The Sun Cable project received early support from billionaires Cannon-Brookes and Andrew Forrest, with the former winning the takeover battle after the company was placed into voluntary administration in January 2023.
The two disagreed on whether the project was aimed at transporting electricity to Singapore, but Cannon-Brookes was convinced that it was.
Grok Ventures, Cannon-Brookes’ private investment firm, invested $65 million in the company while it was in receivership.
The project consists of two phases.
The first phase aims to deliver up to 4 GW of renewable energy to industrial customers in Darwin, with 900 MW in the first phase.
The second project aims to supply Singapore with 1.75 GW of electricity via a 4,200 km long submarine cable. This proposal has been criticised by many as being too ambitious.
The longest subsea link proposed so far is one-fifth as long: the 767-kilometre Viking link between the UK and Denmark.
Cannon-Brookes responded to such criticism last year, claiming the ambition is “commensurate with the challenges and opportunities of the renewable energy transition”.
“I recognize that some people may think it is too ambitious, but we don’t think so,” he said at the time.
“Frankly, the technology exists to make this happen. We are very confident that modern cable technology can reliably transport more electricity over long distances and through deeper water than was possible in the past,” he added.
But there is still a long way to go.
The final investment decision for the project is not expected until 2027. Electricity supply is expected to begin in the early 2030s.