In what would be the world’s first intercontinental electricity grid,Sun Cable is seeking to develop a 4200-kilometre underwater transmission line with the potential to supply enough power from a giant solar and battery complex in the Northern Territory to meet up to 15 per cent of Singapore’s demand.
Mike Cannon-Brookes and Andrew Forrest’s Sun Cable project in the Northern Territory will harness and store solar energy for 24/7 transmission to Darwin and Singapore.Supplied
“We are privileged to have a group of shareholders that are such strong advocates for our mission to transmit electricity from abundant renewable energy resources to large and growing load centres,at scale”,Sun Cable chief executive David Griffin said.
“We have developed a world-leading capability in four short years.”
Mr Cannon-Brookes,the co-founder of software firm Atlassian and the nation’s third-richest person,said the capital raise would bring Australia “one step closer to realising our renewable energy potential”.
“We can power the world with clean energy and Sun Cable is harnessing that at scale,” he said.
“It’s a blueprint for how we export energy across the world. We fully back this vision.”
Mr Cannon-Brookes and his wife Annie’s privately owned Grok Ventures has become a prominent green-energy investor. Last month,Grok and Canadian asset manager Brookfield launched an $9 billion,vowing to spend up to another $20 billion to build enough large-scale renewables and batteries to close down the company’s carbon-intensive coal-fired power stations by the end of the decade.
Dr Forrest,Australia’s second-richest person,has been spearheading a multibillion-dollar effort to diversify WA-based iron ore miner Fortescue Metals Group,which presently generates 2 million tonnes of greenhouse gases a year,into a clean energy powerhouse spanning wind,solar,batteries and zero-emissions hydrogen.
Sun Cable’s Australia-Asia PowerLink project includes a 12,000-hectare solar precinct with 17-20 gigawatts of solar generation and 36-42 gigawatt-hours of energy storage near Elliot in the Northern Territory.
If successful,the cable will transmit 800 megawatts of renewable energy to Darwin and 2 gigawatts to Singapore,reducing Singapore’s emissions by 6 million tonnes of carbon dioxide-equivalent a year,according to the company.
Sun Cable expects the venture will produce as much as $2 billion a year in exports,create more than 1500 jobs in construction,350 operational jobs,and 12,000 indirect jobs.
“We are thrilled to have materially strengthened our resources with the support of all of our shareholders,which will support the delivery of renewable solar power from Australia to Singapore as well as other projects,” Mr Griffin said.
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