World's largest solar farm and battery to export green energy
By Nick O'Malley
July 30, 2020 —
A plan to build the world's largest solar farm and battery in the Northern Territory and connect it to supply power to Singapore and Indonesia has been granted "major project status" by the federal government.
Energy and Emissions Minister Angus Taylor said the $22 billion project, known as the Australia-ASEAN Power Link and backed by Atlassian's Mike Cannon-Brookes and Fortescue Metals founder Andrew Forrest, would help Australia maintain its position as a leading energy exporter.
"As technologies change, we can capitalise on our strengths in renewables to continue to lead the world in energy exports," he said.
The project, if completed, would provide Singapore with up to 20 per cent of its power supply by 2027, and dispatch power to the Northern Territory and Indonesia, earning $2 billion per year.
"The battery will be 150 times the size of [the South Australian big battery at] Hornsdale, so it's insanely large," Mr Cannon-Brookes told the National Smart Energy Summit in Sydney in December.
"The longest subsea cable at the moment is 1900 kilometres, there are a couple of others under construction, but at three and a half thousand clicks it is getting to the limit. I suspect it will still be the longest by the time it's built."
But he said the scale of the project was manageable.
"There's nothing engineering wise in the individual component parts that says it can't be built," he said.
The recognition of the project by the federal government as being of national significance this week will see it win help securing state and federal approvals.
Industry, Science and Technology Minister Karen Andrews said the project would create 1500 jobs during construction and 350 ongoing jobs.
"It's a strong statement to all Australians that despite the immediate challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic we will come out the other side stronger and industry is still investing in opportunities that will drive our economic recovery," she said.
In June Mr Cannon-Brookes backed an economic stimulus plan developed by the climate change think tank Beyond Zero Emissions that would accelerate new energy transmission and storage projects and a national housing retrofit program designed to eliminate energy bills for low-income households.
"We can build a renewable energy superpower with a very low cost of energy generation," he said at the launch of the strategy, one of several green stimulus packages made public by industry groups and think tanks since the COVID-19 pandemic stalled the economy.
"We can use this as an opportunity to electrify so much of our economy, in lots of different ways. We can use it to build a better strategically positioned economy for the future," he said.
By Nick O'Malley
July 30, 2020 —
A plan to build the world's largest solar farm and battery in the Northern Territory and connect it to supply power to Singapore and Indonesia has been granted "major project status" by the federal government.
Energy and Emissions Minister Angus Taylor said the $22 billion project, known as the Australia-ASEAN Power Link and backed by Atlassian's Mike Cannon-Brookes and Fortescue Metals founder Andrew Forrest, would help Australia maintain its position as a leading energy exporter.
"As technologies change, we can capitalise on our strengths in renewables to continue to lead the world in energy exports," he said.
The project, if completed, would provide Singapore with up to 20 per cent of its power supply by 2027, and dispatch power to the Northern Territory and Indonesia, earning $2 billion per year.
"The battery will be 150 times the size of [the South Australian big battery at] Hornsdale, so it's insanely large," Mr Cannon-Brookes told the National Smart Energy Summit in Sydney in December.
"The longest subsea cable at the moment is 1900 kilometres, there are a couple of others under construction, but at three and a half thousand clicks it is getting to the limit. I suspect it will still be the longest by the time it's built."
But he said the scale of the project was manageable.
"There's nothing engineering wise in the individual component parts that says it can't be built," he said.
The recognition of the project by the federal government as being of national significance this week will see it win help securing state and federal approvals.
Industry, Science and Technology Minister Karen Andrews said the project would create 1500 jobs during construction and 350 ongoing jobs.
"It's a strong statement to all Australians that despite the immediate challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic we will come out the other side stronger and industry is still investing in opportunities that will drive our economic recovery," she said.
In June Mr Cannon-Brookes backed an economic stimulus plan developed by the climate change think tank Beyond Zero Emissions that would accelerate new energy transmission and storage projects and a national housing retrofit program designed to eliminate energy bills for low-income households.
"We can build a renewable energy superpower with a very low cost of energy generation," he said at the launch of the strategy, one of several green stimulus packages made public by industry groups and think tanks since the COVID-19 pandemic stalled the economy.
"We can use this as an opportunity to electrify so much of our economy, in lots of different ways. We can use it to build a better strategically positioned economy for the future," he said.
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