Sun Cable plans $35B solar farm to power Singapore via 4,300km cable
Sun Cable aims to generate up to 10 gigawatts of solar power across as much as 12,000 hectares in Australia's north.
Sun Cable, backed by tech billionaire Mike Cannon-Brookes, is planning one of the world's most ambitious renewable energy projects. The company would build solar panels across an area twice the size of Manhattan in Australia's Top End.
Massive battery storage would back up the solar farm. Electricity would travel 800km to Darwin, then 4,300km through the Indonesian archipelago to Singapore via subsea cable.
Singapore would receive up to 1.75 gigawatts, about a quarter of the island's typical power demand. Singapore wants to source around six gigawatts of clean energy from the region by 2035.
This helps reach net zero by 2050. Currently the nation relies on natural gas for about 95 per cent of its electricity.
Experts say the cable faces huge hurdles. It would be six times longer than the world's longest subsea electrical cable.
It would run through one of the globe's most seismically active regions.
- $35 billion
- Project cost
- 4,300 kilometres
- Subsea cable length
- 12,000 hectares
- Solar farm area
- 1.75 gigawatts
- Power to Singapore
Why it mattersIf built, it would transform Australia into a major renewable energy exporter and help Singapore meet its climate goals without building solar farms on its tiny landmass.
AustraliaAustralia could establish itself as a clean energy supplier to Asia, creating construction and technology jobs while proving the viability of long-distance renewable export.
✓ Claims checked against the source. checked 3 h ago
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