Renewable energy developer SunCable has today (22 October) received conditional approval from the Singaporean government’s Energy Market Authority (EMA) to import renewable energy generated from solar PV via the Australia-Asia PowerLink (AAPowerLink) interconnector.
The AAPowerLink project is set to deploy between 17GW and 20GW of solar capacity and between 36.42GWh and 42GWh of energy storage to connect Australia’s Northern Territory with Singapore via 4,300km of subsea cable and supply power to the territory’s capital, Darwin, and the surrounding region.
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Once complete, it will be capable of delivering up to 15% of Singapore’s total electricity needs via a 2GW high-voltage direct current (HVDC) subsea cable, Sun Cable said.
The EMA has provided conditional approval today via a comprehensive process, which determined that AAPowerLink is “technically and commercially viable”.
Mitesh Patel, interim CEO of SunCable International, hailed the announcements, emphasising that the approval from the EMA provides a “vote of confidence” in the project.
“Today’s announcement is a vote of confidence in the commercial and technical viability of our project. Obtaining condition approval means SunCable can move forward with the next phase of development and commercial activities and strengthening our partnership with Indonesia,” Patel said.
“We will also progress commercial discussions with industrial customers in Singapore and engagement with the Northern Territory government and the Traditional Owners of the project site.”
The AAPowerLink aims to deliver 1.75GW of green energy to customers in Singapore, with an additional 4GW set to stay in Australia to power future green industries in Darwin, in the Northern Territory.
Readers of PV Tech will likely be aware of SunCable’s project, which it has previously deemed to the “world’s largest renewable energy and transmission project in development”. It is anticipated to deliver “more than AU$20 billion (US$13 billion) in economic value” to the Northern Territory throughout the construction period and the first 35 years of operation.
The project received approval from Indonesian authorities in 2021 for the proposed transmission cable route through the country’s waters. In July 2024, the project obtained its principal environmental approval from the Northern Territory government and the NT Environment Protection Authority.
