World’s ‘largest solar precinct’ approved by Australian government
AP Newsroom
21/08/2024 
NEWCASTLE, Australia: The Australian government on Wednesday has approved a massive industrial solar power project in its remote north, described as the "largest solar precinct in the world", Anadolu Agency (AA) reported.
SunCable's A$20 billion (US$24 billion) project will generate enough energy to power 3 million homes.
"It will be the largest solar precinct in the world and heralds Australia as the world leader in green energy," Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek said.
The 12,000-hectare Australia-Asia Power Link project will help turn Australia into a renewable energy superpower, the minister added.
The project, backed by tech billionaire and environmental activist Mike Cannon-Brookes, includes panels, batteries and a 4,300 km subsea cable linking Australia with Singapore.
The project aims to deliver up to 6GW of renewable energy to large-scale industrial customers in both Darwin in the North Australia and Singapore.
In a separate statement, SunCable Australia's Managing Director Cameron Garnsworthy said: "SunCable will now focus its efforts on the next stage of planning to advance the project towards a final investment decision targeted by 2027."
SunCable will be investing further in communities in the Northern Territory, Singapore and Indonesia to progress the next phase, Garnsworthy added.
-- BERNAMA
Australia approves US$13.5 billion project to export solar power to Singapore
21 Aug 2024 09:21AM
SYDNEY: Australia said on Wednesday (Aug 21) it had given the go-ahead for a A$20 billion (US$13.5 billion) solar project that plans to ship energy from a giant solar farm in the country's north to Singapore through a 4,300km undersea cable.
Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek said SunCable's flagship Australia-Asia power link project would help meet the growing demand for renewable energy at home and abroad.
Plibersek said the vast solar farm would generate enough energy to power three million homes and would include panels, batteries and eventually, a cable linking Australia with Singapore.
"It will be the largest solar precinct in the world and heralds Australia as the world leader in green energy," she said.
A final investment decision is expected in 2027 with electricity supply to begin in the early 2030s, according to SunCable.
The approval comes with strict conditions to protect nature and the project must avoid the habitat of greater bilby, which are small rabbit-like marsupials with long floppy ears, Plibersek said.
Over two stages of development, the project aims to deliver up to 6 gigawatts (GW) of green electricity to large-scale industrial customers in Darwin, the capital city of Australia's Northern Territory, and in Singapore.
In response to CNA's queries, Singapore's Energy Market Authority (EMA) said that it is in discussions with Sun Cable on its proposal.
Singapore is on track with its plans to import up to 4GW of low-carbon electricity by 2035, which will make up about 30 per cent of the country's electricity supply in that year, an EMA spokesperson added.
It has granted conditional approvals to projects from various sources - 2GW from Indonesia, 1GW from Cambodia and 1.2GW from Vietnam.
Conditional approvals are given when the EMA preliminary assesses a proposed project to be technically and commercially viable.
"Potential electricity importers will be required to further develop their proposals and obtain the relevant regulatory approvals," said the EMA.
CNA
