SunCable gains federal approval to establish Australia’s largest solar farm in NT

Approval of the Mike Cannon-Brookes-backed project paves the way for SunCable to establish a 12,000ha solar farm on a pastoral station between Elliot and Tennant Creek.

The solar farm is expected to generate up to 6GW of renewable energy including 4GW to be used in Darwin, or the energy equivalent to power three million homes.

The approval also includes an 800km transmission line to Darwin and an underwater cable to the end of Australian waters.

The green light from the federal government follows in-principle environmental approval secured last month from the Northern Territory Government and the NT Environment Protection Authority.

SunCable says the latest approvals underpin development of the Australian infrastructure required to supply electricity to new green industries in the Northern Territory and the venture plans to export the green power to Singapore.

The company says AAPowerLink is one of the largest energy infrastructure projects to receive an EPBC Act approval, covering a project footprint about 2,000km long from the heart of the Northern Territory, extending to the Australian and Indonesian maritime border.

SunCable Australia’s managing director Cameron Garnsworthy describes it as a landmark moment in the project’s journey “following four years of extensive assessment and public consultation with stakeholders around Australia”.

“SunCable is a company founded on a vision to help decarbonise the planet,” says Garnsworthy.

“Today’s announcement is a vote of confidence in the project and SunCable itself as responsible stewards of the local Northern Territory environment.

“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 plans to invest further in communities in the Northern Territory, Singapore and Indonesia to progress the next phase, with the process including negotiations of indigenous land use agreements with traditional owners across the project footprint in the Northern Territory.

The company is also engaging with Singapore’s Energy Market Authority on the conditional approval application for the subsea cable interconnector component of the project, while it also is progressing engagement with the Indonesian Government on proving the proposed subsea route of the 4,300km energy cable to Singapore.

AAPowerLink is expected to be delivered over two stages, comprising the solar farm and the cable which the developer says has the potential to create new export industries for Australia by enabling new green industrial development in the Northern Territory.

The project is expected to deliver more than $20 billion in economic value to the Northern Territory during the construction period and first 35 years of operation.

“This massive project is a generation-defining piece of infrastructure,” says Minister for the Environment Tanya Plibersek who signed off on the approvals.

“It will be the largest solar precinct in the world and heralds Australia as the world leader in green energy.

“Not only will this project help turn Australia into a renewable energy superpower, it will be a huge boost for the Northern Territory economy.

“It will mean more 14,300 new jobs in northern Australia, and it will turbocharge our research and manufacturing capacity in renewable technology.”

SunCable is owned by Helietta Holdings 1, a consortium led by Mike Cannon-Brookes' Grok Ventures in partnership with Quinbrook, which acquired the assets of the business last year from  voluntary administrators following a high-profile spat between billionaires Cannon-Brookes and Andrew Forrest who were formerly progressing the project in partnership before a disagreement over the direction of the business.