“It will be built:” NT legislates to help deliver world’s biggest solar and battery project

Plans to build the world’s largest solar power export project in Australia’s Top End have been given a fresh boost this week from a Northern Territory government bill promising to provide certainty for the $30 billion Sun Cable Australia-Asia Power Link.

The NT Labor government said on Monday that it would introduce legislation this week to facilitate the massive project, which will include the world’s largest solar farm and battery in the Barkly region, plus a converter site and transition facilities at Murrumujuk, near Gunn Point.

Sun Cable’s giga-scale plans also include a more than 4,000km undersea cable that will pipe renewable energy from Elliott in the NT, to Darwin, and then on to Singapore, where it has been estimated the project could supply up to 15% of Singapore’s electricity needs, starting from 2027.

Already, the Australia-Asia Power Link has been awarded Major Project Status by both the Commonwealth and Territory governments, and the NT’s Gunner government has also signed a Project Development Agreement with Sun Cable to facilitate the project.

NT chief minister Michael Gunner said on Tuesday that the Solar Project (Australia-Asia Power Link) (Special Provisions) Bill 2022 would provide certainty that key commitments in that existing development agreement would be met.

In particular, the Bill aims to clarify and streamline existing processes, increase project certainty, and support Sun Cable to secure project financing. It is already backed by billionaires Andrew Forrest and Mike Cannon-Brookes but will be looking to raise billions to build the solar farm, batteries, transmission and cables.

“The Australia-Asia PowerLink will be built here in the Territory. It will be a major economic driver, and it will put the Territory on the international map when it comes to renewables,” said Gunner.

“The legislation provides certainty for the project, and facilitates its implementation which will create over 1,750 jobs during construction and 350 ongoing positions as part of operations.”

For Sun Cable, the Bill comes as the company gears up to get to work on the massive project, having in October of last year named the “powerhouse” of companies that would help deliver it, starting in late 2023.

That powerhouse includes North America-based EPC giants Bechtel and Hatch, professional services firms Marsh and PwC Australia, and engineering outfit SMEC (a member of the Surbana Jurong Group) as the members of its Integrated Project Delivery Team (IPDT).

“The AAPowerLink is a pioneer project that will position the Territory as a world leader in the intercontinental transmission of renewable electricity,” said Sun Cable CEO and founder David Griffin.

“Further, the project aims to provide 800MW of dispatchable renewable energy capacity to the Darwin region from 2026,” he said.

“This supply will be critical to unlocking the Northern Territory’s economic growth potential and represents the start of a new renewable energy industry for the Territory.”