Australian renewable energy company Sun Cable's Australia-Asia PowerLink (AAPowerLink) project, under which it has planned to commission a massive solar power plant project with 17 GW to 20 GW capacity, has brought on board a 'powerhouse' of engineering and financial experience to help execute the massive facility.
Engineering, construction and project management company Bechtel will be responsible for project delivery, Hatch will ensure HVDC transmission, insurance broker and risk advisor Marsh will be in charge of risk management, and project advisory services will be handled by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) Australia. Part of Indonesia's Surbana Jurong Group, SMEC will provide its engineering design consultancy for the solar generation system under the project.
This integrated project delivery team (IPDT) is planned to deliver the AAPowerLink project with 36 GWh to 42 GWh of battery storage and the world's 'longest' undersea HVDC cable system through which solar power will flow from Australia's Darwin to Singapore.
The project is expected to enter construction sometime in late 2023 and start generating electricity for Australia's Darwin in 2026. For Singapore, 1st power is scheduled to be sent in 2027, and should reach full capacity by the end of 2028. When that happens, this project is expected to cover up to 15% of Singapore's electricity needs helping the country lower its emissions by 6 million tons annually.
Sun Cable's CEO David Griffin called the IPDT as a 'dream team' to bring the project to fruition. PwC Australia's CEO Tom Seymour summed up the importance of the solar and storage project as, "AAPowerLink will help solve Australia's carbon emissions footprint, provide once-in-a-lifetime economic opportunities for communities including First Nations Peoples across the Northern Territory and supply chain businesses across Australia. It will pave the way for a new Australian export industry that will create jobs and change lives."
In September 2021, Sun Cable said the Indonesia government has recommended its Ministry of Transportation to grant a subsea survey permit to the company to route its transmission cables through Indonesian waters (see 17 GW Solar Farm For AAPL Project).
In the recent announcement, it confirmed approval from the Indonesian government to undertake next stage of the subsea cable survey. Sun Cable said it will now be hunting for a project management team to reach the next milestone for the massive facility.