Australia is embracing a new concept of “energy as export” with an ambitious undertaking to power Singapore from the Australian outback via underground cables. The Sun Cable solar project, as it is called, will be located in the Northern Territory and consist of a massive solar PV array that spreads over 15,000 hectares (about 58 square miles). It will generate 3GW of solar energy, most of which will be exported to Singapore through 3,800 kilometers of HVDC (High Voltage Direct Current) cables slung across the seafloor. The solar farm also includes battery backup to minimize contingencies and balance peak demands.
The 721-square-kilometer island nation of Singapore is currently powered by 95% (expensive) liquid natural gas. The country is under pressure to transition to less expensive, environmentally friendly sources of energy – hence where the concept of Sun Cable came into the picture. It will provide 20% of the island’s electricity needs and be one of the largest utility-grade solar farms on the planet. It will cost over $20 billion overall with commissioning set to sometime in the late 2020s. At the moment, the project is still in the early stages of design. Construction is scheduled for completion in 2027.
In addition to The Sun Cable project, Australia is also working on the Asian Renewable Energy Hub (AREH). It is another energy export project, but consisting of a mix of solar and wind power. AREH encompasses a 6,500 square kilometer plot of land in East Pilbara, WA. It will generate 15GW of energy for Japan and South Korea. And another project in Western Australia, called The Murchison Renewable Hydrogen Project, will use the energy produced by wind and solar farms to create renewable hydrogen, which will be transported to East Asia as liquid hydrogen.
These projects will tap into Australia’s vast renewable energy resources and help the nation transition away from being the world’s third-largest fossil fuel exporter to being one of the leading renewable energy exporters instead. Of course, at first, it will just provide an alternative to coal, gas, and iron ore.
And if the idea of cables slung underground thousands of miles to deliver electricity sounds crazy, it’s not. HVDC grid interconnectors are already operating throughout Europe to connect offshore wind turbines to the mainland; therefore, the concept has already been proven feasible. Furthermore, the outrageous price tag on the Sun Cable project will likely drop as the cost of solar power continues to fall dramatically.
