Australia-Asia Power Link

The Australia–Asia Power Link (AAPowerLink) is a proposed electricity infrastructure project that is planned to include the world’s largest solar plant, the world’s largest battery, and the world’s longest submarine power cable.

Initial plans forecast that a new solar farm in the Northern Territory of Australia would produce up to 20 gigawatts of electricity, most of which would be exported to Singapore, and at a later point Indonesia, by a 4,500 km (2,800 mi) 3 GW HVDC transmission line. A large battery would store energy in order to level energy availability as sunlight varies throughout the day.^[2] AAPowerLink has been developed by an Australian company Sun Cable, initially backed by Andrew Forrest and Mike Cannon-Brookes. It was projected to begin construction in mid-2023, with operation starting in early 2026 and completion by late 2027, and estimated to add A$8 billion to the economy of the Northern Territory.

The project collapsed in January 2023, after Sun Cable was placed into voluntary administration following a disagreement between Forrest and Cannon-Brookes about the need to put more funding into the venture. In May 2023, a consortium led by Cannon-Brookes’ Grok Ventures won the bid to acquire Sun Cable, with the takeover finalised on 7 September 2023. The revised plans involve supplying electricity to Darwin by 2030, and to Singapore a few years thereafter. Eventually the solar farm would produce 6 gigawatts of power.

Design

The solar plant would be in the Northern Territory near Elliott and Tennant Creek in the Barkly Region, using photovoltaic modules designed by Australian company 5B and prefabricated at a proposed factory in Darwin.The solar panels will cover 12,000 ha (30,000 acres) (12 km x 10 km) in an area with some of the best solar resources in the world. An 800 km (500 mi) overhead power line will transmit 6.4 GW to Darwin, where it will transfer to a 4,500 km (2,800 mi) 2.2 GW undersea power line to Singapore. This undersea cable will be the longest undersea cable in the world, exceeding the existing longest undersea power cable by a factor of around five.

Batteries at the solar array in Darwin and Singapore will provide load-balancing for continuous daily dispatch.

Singapore produced 95% of its electricity in 2015 from natural gas, but seeks to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions. The AAPowerLink could provide about 20% of Singapore’s electricity, with no carbon dioxide generation, reducing Singapore’s emissions by 6 million tonnes per year.

In September 2021, it was announced that there would be further expansions to the proposed size of the project, from 10 GW to 20 GW capacity, and from 20 GWh to 36-42 GWh of battery storage, with a new estimated construction cost of $30 billion dollars. Forecasts suggest up to $A2 billion in exports, 1500 jobs in construction, 350 operational jobs, and 12,000 indirect jobs will be created across Australia, Singapore and Indonesia.

Development

The project was initially called the Australia–Singapore Power Link, as the power line will initially connect those two countries. It was later renamed to Australia-ASEAN, and again to Australia-Asia, as it was also planned to bring electricity to Indonesia.

Sun Cable intended to secure all financing by late 2023, beginning construction the following year. It was expected to cost A$30 billion (US$22.6 billion). Initial investments came from billionaires Mike Cannon-Brookes and Andrew Forrest.

In July 2019, the project received major project status from the Northern Territory Government, ensuring local support in development and construction. The federal government awarded the same status in July 2020, expediting construction by facilitating coordination and permitting. Singapore had not yet permitted the project, but benefits for it include long-term electricity price stability, the potential to become a hub for trading renewable electricity in the Southeast Asian power grid, and meeting its agreements to cut emissions under the Paris Agreement.

Undersea surveying of the Australian section of the (AAPL) cable route was completed in 2020 by Guardian Geomatics.

A project development agreement was signed between the NT Government and Sun Cable in January 2021, providing for commercial partnership.

An Integrated Project Delivery Team (IPDT) composed of multi-disciplinary international partners was announced in October 2021, including Bechtel (Project Delivery), Hatch Ltd (HVDC Tramission), Marsh (Risk Management), PwC Australia (Project Advisory) and SMEC (Solar Generation System). Construction was projected to require 1,000 jobs, and operation will have 300 jobs in the Northern Territory. As of 2021, it was expected to deliver first supply of electricity to Darwin in 2026, Singapore in 2027 with full capacity by end of 2028.

Australia is the world’s largest exporter of coal. The AAPowerLink, along with the proposed wind and solar Asian Renewable Energy Hub in the Pilbara, would make it a “green energy exporting superpower.”

2023: temporary administration

In January 2023, Sun Cable went into voluntary administration. The Financial Times reported that the administration was caused after lead investors Forrest and Cannon-Brooks “clashed… over the terms of a new funding round”, itself necessitated “since the project started missing milestones”.

In March 2022, it was announced that Sun Cable raised A$210m (€139m) Series B capital to fund the continued development of the project. The round was led by Grok Ventures (owned by Cannon-Brookes) and Squadron Energy (owned by Forrest). As of 5 May 2023, a process for the sale of the company has attracted four bidders, including Squadron and Grok. In May 2023, a consortium led by Grok Ventures and including Quinbrook Infrastructure Partners won the bid to acquire Sun Cable. Grok put A$65m into Sun Cable during its period in administration, and the takeover was finalised on 7 September 2023. The project aims to supply electricity to Darwin by 2030 (900 megawatts initially), and to Singapore a few years thereafter. Eventually the solar farm would produce 6 gigawatts of energy.