World’s biggest solar and battery project hangs in balance as Sun Cable enters administration

Sun Cable, the developer of what promises to be the world’s biggest solar and battery storage project here in Australia, has gone into voluntary administration.

In a statement on Wednesday, Sun Cable said the “difficult decision” to appoint FTI Consulting as voluntary administrators of the company had “followed the absence of alignment with the objectives of all shareholders.”

This could suggest a falling out between the two major backers of the company’s huge Australia-Asia PowerLink project, tech billionaire Mike Cannon-Brookes – who is also the chair of Sun Cable – and iron ore magnate Andrew Forrest. RenewEconomy could not immediately confirm whether or not this was the case.

“Whilst funding proposals were provided, consensus on the future direction and funding structure of the company could not be achieved,” the company statement says.

Sun Cable’s “marque” project, the Australia-Asia PowerLink, proposes to build up to 20GW of solar near Elliott in the heart of the Northern Territory, and 42GWh of battery storage, providing clean energy for green industry in Darwin and to Singapore through a 4,200km sub-sea cable.

Sun Cable had aimed to begin construction on the AAPLink next year, complete financial close by the start of 2024, start supplying 800MW of electricity capacity to Darwin in 2027, and to be in full operation – helping to power Singapore – by 2029.

Sun Cable says Christopher Hill, David McGrath and John Park from FTI will work with the company’s management team to determine the way forward from here. It says a call for expressions of interest for either a recapitalisation or sale of the business is a likely early move.

“Sun Cable continues to represent an outstanding strategic opportunity to operationally deliver the largest renewable energy project in the world, with the AAPowerLink project to supply power to the Northern Territory and Singapore, commencing late this decade,” the company statement says.

In comments on Wednesday, Cannon-Brookes appears supportive of the move to voluntary administration, and optimistic that a way forward will be found.

“Sun Cable has achieved so much since it was founded in 2018,” the company’s chair said.

“I’m confident it will play a huge role in delivering green energy for the world, right here from Australia. I fully back this ambition and the team, and look forward to supporting the company’s next chapter.”

Sun Cable CEO and founder, David Griffin, was also surprisingly upbeat in his own comments on the news.

“[AAPowerLink] … remains well placed for completion,” Griffin says.

“As we have progressed our work, the demand for delivering reliable, dispatchable 24/7 renewable energy in the NT and the region has risen materially. Sun Cable looks forward to developing and operating the projects to meet this demand.”

As well as the AAPowerLink, Sun Cable currently has a portfolio of a further 11GW of proposed projects.

In November of 2022, Sun Cable announced that it had signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Indonesian government to unlock more than $A150 billion in “green industry” growth in the archipelago.