SunCable Gets $152 Million New Investment for Australia-Singapore Power Project

The SunCable led ‘Australia-Asia PowerLink’ project has received a major boost as Australian billionaires Mike Cannon-Brookes and Andrew Forrest have invested a further $152 million into the undersea cable link construction meant to deliver solar generated power from Australia to Singapore.

The fresh investment has been directed through Grok Ventures that belongs to Cannon-Brookes and Squadron Energy a subsidiary of investment company Tattarang which is owned by Andrew Forrest. Sun Cable – the solar energy developer in Australia – said that the $152 million will expedite the construction of Australia-Asia PowerLink (AA PowerLink).

The power lines are going to be 4,200-kilometer long and once completed, it will be the longest high voltage direct current (HVDC) cable that will run under the sea in the world.

SunCable is constructing a solar farm in the deserts of the Northern Territory region in Australia that will supply power to the Tasmanian capital of Darwin by 2026. It will also supply power to Singapore a year later for which it will use the AA PowerLink infrastructure. The massive solar power project that has come at a cost of Australian $30 billion will generate about 20 GW of electricity.

SunCable holds that this will be the world's largest solar power producing facility. The company also says that the project also envisages a battery to store 42 GWh power.

Andrew Forrest, the mining billionnaire, has been investing heavily into renewable energy and lately, in green hydrogen project, as he pivots to staying an energy exporter, but of the green kind.

The SunCable AAPL project is one of the few trans-ocean/trans continental projects to have made real headway , even as other projects that envisage transporting renewable energy from one continent to another go through the paces of proving their viability.