In quick:
The NT authorities has granted environmental approvals for SunCable’s huge solar project.
SunCable needs to construct “the world’s largest renewable energy precinct” in the Northern Territory.
What’s subsequent?
SunCable nonetheless must finance the project, with a last choice not anticipated till 2027.
SunCable’s project to develop “the world’s largest renewable energy precinct” in the distant Northern Territory has acquired essential environmental approvals, however a last funding choice on the $30 billion-plus project is just not anticipated till 2027.
The company plans to build a 10 gigawatt, 12,400-hectare solar farm close to Elliott and transport electrical energy to Darwin by way of an 800-kilometre overhead transmission line, then on to Singapore by way of a subsea cable.
On Tuesday, the NT authorities accredited the project, following suggestions from the NT Environment Protection Authority (NTEPA).
“The principal environmental approval is a huge milestone for the project,” SunCable NT regional director Jett Street stated.
“It enables the project to progress with the different development activities that will take it to a final investment decision in 2027.”
NT Environment Minister Kate Worden stated the project had “been through a rigorous environmental approval process”.
“The SunCable project … will be a great asset to the Territory as we move towards a renewable energy future,” Ms Worden stated in an announcement.
“This project will deliver thousands of jobs for Territorians and harness one of our greatest assets — the abundance of sunshine.”
The project is predicted to create 1,750 jobs throughout development and 350 jobs ongoing over its 70-year operational life, with SunCable claiming it might generate $20 billion in financial worth to the NT.
SunCable was taken over by billionaire Mike Cannon-Brookes in May 2023, after falling out with former project accomplice Andrew Forrest.
More approvals wanted
SunCable nonetheless wants to barter Indigenous Land Use Agreements with a variety of totally different conventional proprietor teams alongside the transmission line path to Darwin.
The Northern Land Council stated it was supporting conventional homeowners to take care of SunCable.
“Without going into confidential matters, those negotiations are ongoing,” the spokesperson stated.
SunCable can also be investigating including wind technology to the project and creating a second technology web site to provide as much as 4 gigawatts of electrical energy to Darwin.
The firm can also be the best way to provide electrical energy to inexperienced power clients in the controversial Middle Arm industrial precinct.
Ms Street rejected criticisms that SunCable’s power could possibly be used to greenwash tasks on the industrial web site close to Darwin.
“This is an opportunity for the Northern Territory to be at the forefront of the global energy transition,” Ms Street stated.
“The projects that we’ll be supplying at Middle Arm are new industries that are critical to reach the decarbonisation and climate change objectives of the world.”
SunCable stated the project might assist underpin “a new wave of green industrial development in the NT, via prospective projects that include green minerals, hydrogen, e-fuels, and data centres.”
Environmental dangers recognized
The NTEPA outlined a variety of environmental dangers from the project’s growth, primarily surrounding the more than 12,000 hectares wanted to be cleared for the solar farm.
Emissions from land clearing and development are anticipated to whole about 4.4 million tonnes of carbon dioxide-equivalent however could be carbon impartial after 4 years and “remain significantly carbon negative for the remainder of the operational life of 70 years”, in keeping with a NTEPA evaluation.
“The avoided emissions in the NT and Singapore across the life of [project] equate to an estimated combined total of 485 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent,” the NTEPA’s evaluation report stated.
The report stated clearing on the solar farm web site might change floor water flows in the Lake Woods catchment and probably influence the threatened better bilby, gray falcon, Gouldian finch, and yellow-spotted monitor.
The NTEPA stated with SunCable’s proposed measures, the project could possibly be managed “in a manner that is environmentally acceptable”.
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