A £15bn mega project is set to see a 2,500 mile undersea cable laid between two countries – with both set to benefit.
The Australia-Asia Power Link will see a huge new solar farm set up in Australia’s Northern Territory that covers 12,000 hectares of land.
The new solar farm, in the area’s Barkly Region, is expected to generate up to 17-20 Gigawatt (GW) (peak) from its solar photovoltaic (PV) arrays, according to a report by Infrastructure Australia.
The scheme, a private construction with some funding from the Australian government, will also include a 497-mile overhead line to the Darwin region, which the area set to be provided with approximately 800 Megawatts (MW) of electricity.
It also includes the 2,500 mile cable to Singapore, which it is thought will be able to provide 15 per cent of the energy required by the Asian city state.
The Darwin link is hoped to be completed by 2025, while the undersea link to Singapore is due to be finished in 2029.
As well as providing electricity to Singapore, it is hoped the scheme will see electricity bills slashed in Darwin and surrounding areas of Australia.
The Infrastructure Australia report states: “The Proposal will improve the quality of life of Australians through reducing the cost of electricity in Darwin by approximately 12 per cent.
“This has been valued at $184 million in present value terms.”
It added: “The Northern Territory currently has high-cost electricity produced using gas, both in terms of the financial costs and the environmental costs from GHG emissions.
“It has a comparative advantage in solar energy production, because of the low opportunity cost of land, the high-quality solar resources and proximity to energy-intense markets in the Indo-Pacific region.
“This includes Singapore, which is seeking to transition to renewable energy sources and import renewable energy to meet its future electricity needs.”
“The proposal represents the largest solar farm ever developed globally, largest battery and longest subsea power cables.”
