Australia invests 24 billion Australian dollars to build the world's largest solar energy center

On August 21, news came that the Australian government has approved renewable energy company SunCable to invest 24 billion Australian dollars to build the "world's largest solar energy center" in the Northern Territory. This plan is described by Australia's Minister for the Environment and Water Tanya Plibersek as "infrastructure that defines a generation" and is expected to make Australia a world leader in green energy.

SunCable plans to build a 10-gigawatt solar power plant covering an area of 124 square kilometers in Elliott, Northern Territory. Electricity will be transmitted to Darwin through an 800-kilometer overhead transmission line and then to Singapore through a submarine cable. Production is expected to start in 2030. This project is expected to create 1,750 jobs during the construction period and 350 jobs during the 70-year operation period.

SunCable was established in 2018 and has offices in Australia and Singapore. However, this plan faces many uncertainties. On the one hand, it needs to communicate with the Singapore Energy Market Authority and the Indonesian government about the next steps of the plan. It also needs to negotiate with various Australian landowner groups along the transmission line on native land use agreements. The Singapore Energy Market Authority said it is discussing SunCable's power supply proposal with it but did not disclose more details. The project is expected to supply 2 gigawatts of electricity to Singapore annually, meeting about 15% of the country's electricity demand. In addition, the project is bound by strict nature protection clauses, and Australian energy experts also have doubts about its profitability.

Agence France-Presse reported that China is in a leading position in the field of clean energy. The wind and solar power generation is almost twice the sum of other countries. Although Australia is one of the world's major exporters of coal and natural gas, and people are keen on household solar panels, the government has been hesitant in adopting renewable energy. As of 2022, renewable energy accounts for 32% of Australia's total power generation, and coal accounts for 47%.