wiredInUSA September 2020

Photo by Sebastien Gabriel on Unsplash

Power sharing

Australia has granted “major project status” to a $22 billion plan to export solar-generated power to south- east Asia via an undersea cable. The status acknowledges the strategic significance of the project, which Angus Taylor, minister for energy and emissions reduction, says is expected to inject billions of dollars into the economy. TheAustralia-ASEAN Power Link will connect the world’s largest solar farm and battery system — in Australia’s Northern Territory — to Singapore and Indonesia via a

3,700km undersea cable. Similar proposals for trans-national power shipments have been pursued in other regions, including between North Africa and Europe, and from Mongolia to Japan and South Korea. Singapore’s Sun Cable says the project can supply a fifth of Singapore’s power needs, helping reduce the city-state’s reliance on natural gas imports. The project, backed by Atlassian co-founder Mike Cannon-Brookes and Fortescue Metals founder Andrew Forrest, planned to start marine survey work from August. Commercial operations are expected to begin in 2027.

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wiredInUSA September 2020