The photovoltaic park will provide enough energy to power more than 3 million Australian households
SunCable’s Australia-Asia Power Link project takes another step forward, getting the Australian government’s lead to building the world’s largest solar park.
Presented for the first time in 2019, the intervention will supply about 4 GW of photovoltaic energy to the Australian grid simultaneously exporting 2 GW to Singapore thanks to high-voltage submarine cables, covering about 15% of the state city’s energy needs.
From Australia to Asia covering almost 5 thousand kilometers of diving
The Commonwealth Minister of Environment and Water’s approval under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act (EPBC) represents an important milestone for the Australia-Asia Power Link project. The 12,000 hectares of land in the Northern Territory, extending to the sea border between Australia and Indonesia, will fulfill the promise of becoming the world’s largest solar park.
Once in line, the 21 billion euro project promises to supply up to 20 GW of photovoltaic power and about 40 GWh of accumulated battery energy.
The most exciting aspect will be the connection between Australia and Asia. Underwater surveys of the bottom, salinity and currents began in 2020 with Indonesia’s welfare proposal that the cable be traced in its waters.
The goal is to start producing energy by 2030. Meanwhile, as Australian Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek stressed, the benefits will be at the employment level, creating about 14,300 new jobs.
Missing Permissions
The Australian Government’s green light is bringing the project closer to the end, but it will still have to wait for the OK from the Singapore Energy Market Authority, the Indonesian government and that of the Australian indigenous communities. The construction of the world’s largest solar park also represents a ransom opportunity for Australia, freeing itself from its dependency on coal and thus drastically reducing the CO2 emissions associated with it.