Regional Power: Environmental approval granted for Australian solar electricity export to Singapore

Authorities in Australia's Northern Territory (NT) have granted environmental approval for the world's largest renewable energy and transmission project. The NT government and NT Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) have approved SunCable's Australia-Asia PowerLink (AAPowerLink) project, according to Xinhua news agency.

The AAPowerLink aims to supply renewable energy to customers in Darwin, the capital of the NT, and Singapore via a 4,300 km undersea cable starting in the early 2030s. SunCable plans to develop the world's largest renewable energy precinct in two stages, delivering up to four gigawatts (GW) of electricity to Darwin and 1.75GW to Singapore.

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SunCable's project will generate and store electricity at a solar farm with a generation capacity of up to 10GW in the Barkly region of the NT, located over 600 km south of Darwin. The electricity will then be transmitted to Darwin and on to Singapore.

The environmental approval covers the generation and storage site, a High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) transmission line from the precinct to Darwin, a Darwin converter station, and an undersea HVDC cable from the converter to the edge of Australian territorial waters at the border with Indonesia.

SunCable estimates the project will deliver more than 20 billion Australian dollars ($13.4 billion) in economic value to the NT during the construction period and the first 35 years of operation. The AAPowerLink was granted major project status by the NT government in 2019 and by the federal government in 2020.

Editing by Alexander Ginting