Power from Australia!
A cattle station in the Australian outback is ready to host the world’s largest solar farm. Sat halfway between Alice Springs and Darwin, the $20 billion project, “Sun Cable”, will supply power to the Northern Territory’s grid but will ultimately export two-thirds of the power generated to Singapore. [Featured Image: Zbynek Burival, Unsplash].
The cattle grid, the same one that saw casino mogul James Packer work as a jackaroo for a year, will boast 10,000 sq km of space with a 10-gigawatt farm that is visible from space.
“Sun Cable” was granted major project status in July 2020 and it has since garnered billion-dollar investment from names such as Andrew Forrest and Mike Cannon-Brookes.
The project’s CEO, David Griffin, revealed that the project would use 12,000 hectares of land. Plus, construction should begin in 2023, with a view to finishing in 2026 and providing full power potential in 2027.
“It’s a bit of a balancing act too, because it’s far south enough to get away from the main patch affected by the wet season, so it’s a steady solar resource throughout the year.”
It is thought that with two cables leading there, “Sun Cable” can use solar power to provide about 20% of Singapore’s electricity requirements. Singapore could then begin to move away from its more expensive, less-environmentally-friendly gas power system and Australia can move away from exporting fossil fuels.
Griffin has also said that ”Sun Cable” will look to train and employ a local workforce, with supplies also produced by local businesses, which would see up to 10,000 indirect jobs made during construction.
Roll on 2027!