SunCable secures key approval for AAPowerLink project

SunCable’s flagship Australia-Asia Power Link project, the largest intercontinental renewable energy and transmission project in development in the world, is a step closer to realisation after securing the tick of approval from environmental regulators.

July 16, 2024 David Carroll

Image: SunCable

Renewables developer SunCable has announced that it has obtained principal environmental approval from the Northern Territory (NT) government and the NT Environment Protection Authority (NT EPA) for its Australia-Asia Power Link (AAPowerLink) project.

SunCable is seeking to develop a giant solar and battery energy storage complex on a 12,000-hectare site at Powell Creek in the Barkly region and transmit the renewable energy via an 800-kilometre high voltage direct current (HVDC) transmission line to the Darwin region and then on to Singapore via a 4,300 km subsea HVDC cable.

The company said that the NT EPA approval allows it to progress the development, commercial, and engineering activities required to advance the project to final investment decision. That decision is expected in 2027, with electricity supply targeted in the early 2030s.

The AAPowerLink project was to include 20 GW of solar and up to 42 GWh of battery energy storage but the initial focus appears to have now shifted to deliver up to 6 GW of baseload renewable electricity to Darwin and Singapore.

The project will likely be rolled out in two stages. It is expected to deliver up to 4 GW of renewable energy to industrial customers in Darwin, including 900 MW in the first stage, and 1.75 GW to customers in Singapore.

SunCable Australia Managing Director Cameron Garnsworthy said the environmental approval is a “major milestone” that provides significant momentum for the project that could position the Territory at the forefront of the world’s energy transition.

“This approval allows us to progress the development, commercial, and engineering activities required to advance the project to final investment decision targeted in 2027,” he said.

“This will underpin a new wave of green industrial development in the NT, via prospective projects that include green minerals, hydrogen, e-fuels, and data centres.”

The environmental approval covers a significant portion of the AAPowerLink infrastructure, including the solar generation and battery energy storage site at Powell Creek with generation capacity of up to 10 GW. It also encompasses the transmission line stretching from the solar precinct to Darwin, a converter station, and a subsea cable through Australian territorial waters to the Indonesian border.

SunCable said the approval will allow it to pursue the next phase of development, including development of an additional generation site to enable supply of up to 4 GW to customers in Darwin and to further investigate the potential to add wind generation into the project to drive down the levelised cost of energy. The company will also seek to refine the transmission infrastructure to optimise the overall system.

SunCable estimates the construction phase will support an average of 6,800 jobs per year in the NT, as well as contribute more than $20 billion in economic value to the territory during the construction period and first 35 years of operation.

“This future-facing project will invest deeply in local communities in the Northern Territory from central Australia to the Top End, as we create many thousands of local jobs, skill up Australian workers, and offer a host of opportunities for local businesses and suppliers,” Garnsworthy said.

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