The world's largest solar farm will transmit energy via submarine cable

The small town of Newcastle Waters, located in northern Australia, could be home to the largest photovoltaic solar farm in the world. The project is being developed by Sun Cable.

According to the company, 12,000 hectares in the region will be needed to build a 10 GW solar farm that will bring energy to Singapore through a 4,500 km submarine cable.

The company has already begun the process of obtaining environmental approvals and has forwarded it to the Northern Territory Environmental Protection Authority (EPA), outlining details about its plans for Newcastle Waters and its outstation, Powell Creek.

The project, which is expected to cost US$ 20 billion, is still being discussed, but if everything goes as planned, solar energy should reach Darwin in 2026 and Singapore the following year.

David Griffin, CEO of Sun Cable, stated that it is necessary to closely examine the impact on the soil at the end of the solar farm, but believes that the project will bring several benefits to the region.

“There will be new infrastructure that can be of mutual benefit, such as an access road. In addition, we will also build a railway branch and, possibly, this could be useful for the operations of CPC (Consolidated Pastoral Company) – an agri-food company based in Australia”, highlighted Griffin.

Still according to Griffin, Newcastle Waters, which is also owned by CPC, should receive some form of payment, but the details are confidential.

Despite being a renewable energy project, Sun Cable's proposal involves deforestation and, therefore, a series of environmental issues must be addressed.

According to Paul Purden, executive director of environmental assessment and policy for the Australian Northern Territory Government, some of the environmental obstacles are large-scale deforestation, impacts on the marine environment when connecting power to Singapore, and also some potentially large changes in hydrology of that region of Newcastle.

“However, there are possibly some very positive environmental benefits from the perspective of greenhouse gas emissions more broadly,” Purden said.

“When it comes to greenhouse gas emissions and the implications of deforestation, the net greenhouse effect benefit would be overwhelming for this project. Once construction was completed, it would be a continuous supply of emission-free renewable electricity,” Griffin added.

Sun Cable must still identify additional or alternative locations for solar farms during the development process of this project.