Sun Cable’s plan for Australia-Asia PowerLink (AAPowerLink)—a giant solar farm in the Northern Territory—has received a $210 million capital boost from investors including billionaires Mike Cannon-Brookes and Andrew Forrest.
The AAPowerLink project is a proposed 17GW solar plant to be built on a cattle property at Newcastle Waters, midway between Alice Springs and the Northern Territory’s capital. The 12,000ha solar farm will boast 36-42GWh of energy storage to enable 24/7 dispatchable electricity near Elliott, in the Northern Territory.
Related article: Sun Cable announces global team for AAPowerLink
Sun Cable chief executive David Griffin said the funding would take the project all the way through to the financial close.
“It will also allow us to accelerate development of our broader portfolio,” he said.
“Our mission is to supply renewable electricity from resource-abundant regions to growing load centres at scale.”
The company has plans to explore other multi-gigawatt solar plants both in Australia and internationally, Griffin said.
“Some of our subsequent projects will also rely on [technology] very similar in concept to the first project,” he said.
“There’s a lot of opportunities in this area … but certainly we have more projects emanating from Australia as well.
“We’re just really stoked to close this round. It’s a really significant number and puts us in a really strong position.”
Cannon-Brookes said the fundraising brought Australia “one step closer to realising our renewables exporting potential”, while developing a blueprint for other projects.
Related article: AGL rejects second bid from Brookfield, Cannon Brookes
“We can power the world with clean energy and Sun Cable is harnessing that at scale.”
Forrested also commented, saying, “Sun Cable’s vision will transform Australia’s capability to become a world-leading generator and exporter of renewable electricity and enable decarbonisation. I’m proud to be a cornerstone investor in Sun Cable, its team and its vision.”
