Singapore’s largest green energy retailer pledges itself to Sun Cable Project

Singapore based independent electricity retailer iSwitch, one of the city-state’s top 3 retailers and its largest green retailer, has pledged its support to be a foundation off-taker for the solar energy produced by the proposed Sun Cable project. The megaproject is set to source 10GW of solar energy from a sunburnt spot near Tennant Creek, Northern Territory (NT) and deliver it to Singapore via 3,750km undersea High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) cable. 

The pledge follows last week’s announcement by Aussie tech billionaire and co-founder of Atlassian Mike Cannon-Brookes that he intended to help fund the megaproject. “I’m backing it,” said Cannon-Brookes at the United Nations Climate Action Summit in New York. Clearly, the outspoken billionaire’s support of the project has inspired attention and invigorated support for the $25 billion project. 

With nearly 100,000 electricity customers in Singapore, iSwitch is near the canopy of Singapore’s electricity tree. Importantly, iSwitch has no direct generator ownership, meaning it is in pole position to be a foundation customer of the Sun Cable project. 

Over 15% of iSwitch’s customers have already committed to 100% carbon neutrality. iSwitch is one of the only retailers in Singapore who can offer 100% green electricity to both commercial and residential customers. 

The company’s pledge is in line with its desire to maintain its position as the largest green retailer in the small island nation, a desire already bolstered earlier this year by the absorption of fellow green retailer ES Power’s customer base into iSwitch, further strengthening the company’s foundation for renewable growth.   

“iSwitch fully supports this ambitious project and looks forward to celebrating a power purchase agreement, allowing the project to become commercial and bankable,” said iSwitch Chief Commercial Officer, Andrew Koscharsky, “We provide long term commitment on behalf of our significant customer base in Singapore. This project will bring countries together, stabilise electrical costs, and provide a stronger sustainability platform for Singapore.” 

Due to its massive size, the Sun Cable Project has given itself a financial close date in 2023, a prospect looking more achievable by the day as investors rush to jump on board. Cannon-Brookes has not yet specified how much his family fund, Grok, plans to invest in the Sun Cable project. Still, the coup of gaining significant pledges on each end of the project in a single week is sure to accelerate the train of willing renewable investors.