SINGAPORE: Singapore has granted conditional approval to Sun Cable to import 1.75 gigawatt ( GW ) of low-carbon electricity from Australia to Singapore.
The Energy Market Authority ( EMA ) announced on Tuesday ( October 22 ) that the imported electricity will be able to be derived from Australia’s Northern Territory’s solar power and will be transmitted using new subsea cables measuring approximately 4,200 kilometers.
Sun Cable said its US$ 13.5 billion solar project in Australia, the Australia-Asia Power Link, is set to be the “world’s largest renewable land and battery backup system”.
The amount of solar energy imported represents about , 15 per cent of Singapore’s full energy needs, the organization added.
According to EMA,” The contingent approval granted to Sun Cable recognizes that the project may be essentially and economically viable based on the proposal and information submitted to date.”
The business may gain the support needed to carry on the project’s development, which is anticipated to begin in 2035.
Before the job can be considered for a provisional permission, Sun Cable must upgrade its plan to comply with EMA’s requirements.
These requirements include achieving a commercially viable rate that customers can afford and complying with EMA’s technical needs.
” Sun Cable will also need to secure all appropriate approvals of related areas, including nations which the cords will move through”, said EMA.
Next Minister for Trade and Industry Tan See Leng described the proposal as” an ambitious project” at the Asia Clean Energy Summit on Tuesday, citing the scope, size, and range between Australia and Singapore.
We anticipate that it will take some time to build, and we anticipate that it will be available by 2035, according to Dr. Tan.
” But when completed, the job will be a valuable supplement to the ASEAN ( Association of Southeast Asian Nations )  , Power Grid, and serve as an additional source of electricity for Singapore”.
The cords will become laid through Indian lakes, according to the company.
This is not the first day a task like this has been brought up. Sun Cable had intended to start building the undersea cables in 2024 and become operating by 2029, but the business went into voluntary leadership in January 2023.
The company had fallen little of resources, it announced finally. Voluntary management refers to a procedure by which a company’s directors assign separate administrators to guide the company’s operations, which are typically experiencing financial difficulties.
In February 2023, Trade and Industry Minister Gan Kim Yong claimed that because the company had not made any responsibility to the project, Singapore’s decision to enter volunteer administration had no impact financially.
In May that time, the company’s officials said it had been rescued by element owner and American tech businessperson Mike Cannon-Brookes.