The Australian government has approved a $19bn solar power project to export electricity to Singapore, hailing it as a “generation-defining piece of infrastructure”.
The landmark moment comes as coal and gas remain the largest sources of electricity generation Down Under, where energy is a “politically fraught issue”, said Al Jazeera.
Daunting but not insurmountable
The new project, known as the Australia-Asia Power Link (AAPowerLink), proposes a 12,000 hectare (46 square mile) solar farm in a remote part of Australia’s Northern Territory.
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The site will be capable of generating up to six gigawatts of electricity and will transport power to Darwin through an 800-kilometre (500 miles) overhead transmission line, then on to Singapore through a subsea cable. The accompanying batteries will mean “the juice flows 24/7”, said The Register.
SunCable, owned by billionaire software tycoon Mike Cannon-Brookes, said the project will supply up to 15% of Singapore’s energy needs once it’s completed in the early 2030s.
“It will be the largest solar precinct in the world”, said Tanya Plibersek, minister for the environment and water, and “heralds Australia as the world leader in green energy”.
Plibersek’s office added that the approval came with “strict conditions” to protect the natural environment, including avoiding the habitat of the greater bilby, a rabbit-like mammal considered susceptible to extinction.
Although it has won environmental approval in Australia, the project “still faces various other regulatory hurdles”, said Al Jazeera, including assessments by authorities in Singapore and Indonesia. SunCable also still needs approvals from indigenous groups in Australia.
Aussie tech entrepreneur Bevan Slattery, who has significant experience building submarine data cables, has issues with the scheme. He argued that the Darwin-to-Singapore route passes through some of the world’s most dangerous waters, with high levels of tectonic and volcanic activity.
However, the scale of the project is “daunting but not insurmountable”, said The Register. The 800km transmission line to Darwin is “also not terrifying” because it will share a rail corridor and therefore be accessible. “It’s also not very long, as such things go”, it added.
Solar vulnerabilities
The development comes at a time of deep division on energy in Australia. Although the governing centre-left Labor Party and opposition centre-right Liberal Party have both committed to reaching net zero emissions by 2050, the parties “disagree on the steps for getting there”, said Al Jazeera.
For instance, when the Liberal Party proposed constructing the country’s first nuclear power plants this summer, Labor Prime Minister Anthony Albanese dismissed the idea as an un-costed “thought bubble”.
Plibersek said that Australians “have a choice between a renewable energy transition that’s already under way creating jobs and driving down prices”, or “paying for an expensive nuclear fantasy that may never happen”.
Although Australia has “long been a global leader in solar energy adoption”, said News.Az, around 99% of panels are imported, exposing “vulnerabilities” in Australia’s renewable energy supply chain.
So the Solar SunShot project – an initiative to boost domestic solar panel production – is a “key component” of Australia’s “broader strategy” to “secure its place as a global leader in the renewable energy sector”.
