Australian billionaires help jump-start solar power project

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Nov 21, 2019 06:00 am

MELBOURNE : Two Australian billionaires have invested tens of millions of dollars to jump-start a mega-project to supply solar power from northern Australia to Singapore through the world's longest sub-sea high voltage cable, the project's boss said yesterday.

Singapore's Sun Cable, which is leading the roughly A$22 billion (S$20 billion) project, raised the money from the private family fund of Atlassian co-founder Mike Cannon-Brookes and mining magnate Andrew Forrest's private company Squadron Energy.

Sun Cable plans to build a 10 gigawatt solar farm in Tennant Creek in the Northern Territory, a 22 gigawatt hour battery storage facility and a 4,500km transmission network to Singapore. All three elements would be the biggest of their kind in the world.

The Australia Singapore Power Link would supply a fifth of Singapore's power needs, helping to ease the island nation's dependence on imported liquefied natural gas.

Sun Cable chief executive David Griffin said the funds injected by Mr Cannon-Brookes and Mr Forrest, which amounted to less than A$50 million, would cover the costs of designing the project and obtaining regulatory and environmental approvals, ahead of seeking full financing.

Sun Cable hopes to secure financing for the whole project by late 2023, Mr Griffin said.- REUTERS