A $20 billion plan to export power to Singapore wins approval

The first stage of one of the world’s most ambitious renewable power projects won environmental approval, paving the way for the billionaire-funded plan to export solar electricity from Australia to Singapore.

The Australian government on Wednesday cleared the first phase of the A$30 billion ($20 billion) AAPowerLink project. Its developer, SunCable, was bought by billionaire Mike Cannon-Brookes in May last year.

The link involves a 4,300-kilometer (2,670-mile) subsea power cable connecting a solar farm in Australia’s Northern Territory with more than 20 gigawatts of capacity to the city-state, which doesn’t have the available land to generate enough renewable power itself. Both the cable and the solar farm would be more than four times bigger than any others currently in operation internationally.

“This massive project is a generation-defining piece of infrastructure,” Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek said in a statement. “It will be the largest solar precinct in the world – and heralds Australia as the world leader in green energy.”

The first phase consists of 4 gigawatts of solar panels, as well as an 800-kilometer overhead cable to Darwin. 

SunCable will focus on advancing AAPowerLink to a final investment decision in 2027 and seeks to begin exporting electricity in the early 2030s, it said. It still needs approvals from indigenous groups in Australia, as well as from Singapore and Indonesia.