The Australian government has approved a $19 billion solar power project to export electricity to Singapore, calling it “a generation-defining infrastructure investment.”
The milestone comes at a time when coal and gas remain the largest sources of electricity generation Down Under, where energy is a “politically sensitive issue,” according to Al Jazeera.
Discouraging, but not insurmountable
The new project, known as Australia-Asia Power Link (AAPowerLink), envisages 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 able to generate up to six gigawatts of electricity and transport the power via an 800-kilometre overhead line to Darwin and then via an undersea cable to Singapore. The associated batteries will ensure that “the power flows 24 hours a day”, according to The Register.
SunCable, owned by billionaire software tycoon Mike Cannon-Brookes, said the project would meet up to 15 percent of Singapore’s energy needs when completed in the early 2030s.
“It will be the largest solar power plant in the world,” said Tanya Plibersek, Minister for Environment and Water, and “it will make Australia a world leader in green energy.”
Plibersek’s office added that the permit comes with “strict conditions” to protect the natural environment, including avoiding the habitat of the greater burrowing bandicoot, a rabbit-like mammal that is considered critically endangered.
Although the project has received environmental approval in Australia, “it still faces various other regulatory hurdles,” Al Jazeera said, including assessments by authorities in Singapore and Indonesia. SunCable also still needs approval from indigenous groups in Australia.
Australian technology entrepreneur Bevan Slattery, who has extensive experience in building submarine data cables, has issues with the project. He argues that the route from Darwin to Singapore passes through some of the world’s most dangerous waters, where there is high tectonic and volcanic activity.
However, the scale of the project is “daunting but not insurmountable,” The Register said. The 800km transmission line to Darwin is “not daunting either” because it runs along a rail corridor and is therefore accessible. “It’s not very long for things like this,” the magazine added.
Weaknesses in solar energy
The development comes at a time when Australia is deeply divided on energy issues. Although both the ruling Labor Party (centre-left) and the opposition Liberal Party (centre-right) have committed to achieving net-zero emissions by 2050, the parties “disagree on the steps to get there”, according to Al Jazeera.
For example, when the Liberal Party proposed building the country’s first nuclear power plants this summer, Labor Prime Minister Anthony Albanese dismissed the idea as a “thought bubble” with no cost calculation.
Plibersek said Australians had a choice between an energy transition already underway that creates jobs and lowers prices, or “paying for an expensive nuclear fantasy that may never become a reality”.
Although Australia has long been a global leader in solar energy, according to News.Az, around 99 percent of solar panels are imported, exposing “vulnerabilities” in Australia’s renewable energy supply chain.
Therefore, the Solar SunShot project – an initiative to promote domestic production of solar modules – is a “key element” of Australia’s “broader strategy” to “secure its position as a world leader in renewable energy”.
