SunCable has achieved another major regulatory milestone, receiving federal approval for the Australian component of its flagship project, Australia-Asia Power Link (AAPowerLink), the world’s largest renewable energy and transmission project.
The project was assessed and approved by the Commonwealth Minister for the Environment and Water under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act (EPBC). This follows last month’s environmental approval granted by the Northern Territory Government and NT Environment Protection Authority.
SunCable says securing these environmental approvals underpins development of the Australian infrastructure required to supply electricity to new green industries in the Northern Territory, and to export this green power to Singapore.
The EPBC Act approval signifies the Australian government’s confidence that SunCable can deliver this nationally important project within appropriate approval conditions.
Landmark project
AAPowerLink is one of the largest energy infrastructure projects to ever receive an EPBC Act approval, covering a project footprint approximately 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 said this was a landmark moment in the project’s journey.
‘SunCable is pleased to receive Commonwealth Government approval under the EPBC Act, following four years of extensive assessment and public consultation with stakeholders around Australia,’ he said.
‘SunCable is a company founded on a vision to help decarbonise the planet.
‘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.’
What next?
SunCable has said it will be investing further in communities in the Northern Territory, Singapore and Indonesia to progress the next phase. This includes:
- Continuing negotiations of Indigenous Land Use Agreements (ILUAs) with Traditional Owners across the project footprint in the Northern Territory;
- Engaging with Singapore’s Energy Market Authority on the conditional approval application for the subsea cable interconnector component of the project; and
- Engaging with the Indonesian Government on regulatory and permitting matters to prove the subsea route inclusive of knowledge and hydrographic data-sharing.
The AAPowerLink project aims to deliver up to 6GW of 24/7 green electricity to large-scale industrial customers in both Darwin and Singapore via a 4,300km subsea cable.
SunCable says the project will create multiple new export industries for Australia by enabling new green industrial development in the Northern Territory, and via subsea transmission of renewable electricity.
The project is expected to deliver more than AUD $20 billion in economic value to the Northern Territory during the construction period and first 35 years of operation, with the potential to provide ‘transformational intergenerational change’ for Traditional Owners in the NT.
SunCable says the project will support an average of 6,800 direct and indirect jobs for each year of the construction phase in the Northern Territory, with a peak workforce of 14,300.
A Final Investment Decision on the project is expected in 2027 with electricity supply to commence in the early 2030s.
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