Sun Cable has closed a AU$210 million (US$152 million) Series B raise with their existing shareholders to fund the development of its Australia-Asia PowerLink (AAPowerLink) subsea cable project.
AAPowerLink project is a 20GW PV plant with 36-42GWh of energy storage that distributes power to Darwin on the north coast of Australia, as well as to Singapore via a 4,200km high voltage direct current (HVDC) subsea cable that will pass through Indonesia.
A scaled-down version of the project was conceived in 2019 and got the backing of two prominent Australian billionaires – Atlassian co-founder Mike Cannon-Brooks and mining magnate Andrew Forrest via Squadron Energy.
Last year, the AU$30 billion export project was awarded priority status by advisory group Infrastructure Australia and received approval for its route by Indonesian authorities, clearing a major hurdle to its development.
The raise announced today was led by Grok Ventures and Squadron Energy, a wholly owned subsidiary of Australian investment firm Tattarang, as well as other previous investors.
“This capital raise will enable the delivery of renewable solar power from Australia to Singapore, advance our other multi gigawatt scale projects, and support the progress of key facilitating assets,” said David Griffin, Sun Cable founder and CEO.
“We are buoyed by the level of support from our investors and key stakeholders including governments, offtakers, suppliers, and the communities in which we operate.”
Andrew Forrest, chairman of Tattarang, called the raise a “critical step” in the development of the AAPowerLink project and said Sub Cable’s vision will “transform Australia’s capability to become a world-leading generator and exporter of renewable electricity and enable decarbonisation.”
Located near the town of Elliott in Australia’s Northern Territory, AAPowerLink will be spread over 12,000 hectares and will transmit 3GW of power from the site to the Darwin region, with 800 MW delivered to the city of Darwin itself.