17 GW Solar Farm For AAPL Project

• Indonesia on board for Sun Cable's AAPowerLink PV project that has now swollen to around 17 GW to 20 GW of solar power capacity
• Indonesia has recommended its Ministry of Transportation to grant subsea survey permit to Sun Cable for its transmission lines to Singapore
• Sun Cable plans to invest $2 billion in Indonesia for the project in lieu of being allowed to use Indonesia waters

With every new development in the realization of Australia-Asia PowerLink (AAPowerLink) project, its promoter Sun Cable continues to increase the capacity of the world's largest solar farm that this entails. Starting from 10 GW initially, to being expanded to 13.1 GW in January 2021, it is now stated by the company to have 17 GW to 20 GW capacity on completion (see Project Development Agreement For AAPL Solar Farm).

The latest development that has led to this expansion is that Indonesia has recommended its Ministry of Transportation to grant subsea survey permit to Sun Cable to route its transmission cables through Indonesian waters. Through AAPowerLink, Sun Cable plans to send solar power generated and stored in what would be the world's largest battery with 36 GWh to 42 GWh capacity, to Singapore through the world's 'longest' undersea High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) cable system from Darwin in Australia.

To lay this cable covering approximately 4,200 km distance, it will need to cross Indonesian waters. In turn, Sun Cable promises to invest over $2 billion in Indonesia which will at a broader level lead to job creation, mobilization of private investment, and boost to local manufacturing across industries.

If all goes well and environmental approvals are in place, not to miss financial close planned for Q4/2023, Sun Cable plans to break ground onsite in Darwin in 2024. Construction is expected to take 4 years to complete.

Having secured a Major Project Status from the Northern Territory and Australian government, the AAPowerLink the project is expected to start supplying a significant amount of renewable electricity to Darwin in 2026, and to Singapore in 2027. Sun Cable estimates this project to cover up to 15% of Singapore's electricity needs with solar power from 2028, enabling it to considerably bring down its emissions.

To deploy solar modules at such a large scale, the project's technology partner 5B is to set up a solar array manufacturing facility (see Australia's 5B Tech Partner For 10 GW Solar Project).