Australian statutory body Infrastructure Australia has categorised Sun Cable’s Australia-Asia PowerLink (AAPowerLink) project as ‘investment-ready’ and affirmed its economic benefits.
The project was moved to Stage III ‘Investment-Ready’ status after it met all the requirements of the Infrastructure Priority List.
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AAPowerLink is a proposed infrastructure electricity project that will deliver clean energy from the Barkly Region in the Northern Territory to Darwin and Singapore via high-voltage cables.
The project has the potential to bring significant benefits to Australia, including delivering an A$8bn ($5.5bn) investment into the country and generating A$2bn in expected annual export revenues from 2028.
It will deliver 800MW of clean energy to Northern Australia to support the industrial power requirements in the region, as well as create 14,000 direct and indirect jobs.
In addition, AAPowerLink is estimated to offset 2.6 million tonnes of carbon emissions.
Sun Cable founder and CEO David Griffin said: “Today’s announcement by Infrastructure Australia affirms that the AAPowerLink is economically viable and will deliver significant benefits for Australia and our region.
“The AAPowerLink will enable a stronger economy for the long term through contracts, wages and economic diversification.
“It will spur enhanced capacity and skills in the construction and technology sectors as a result of jobs and training over the lifetime of the project, and pave the way for new green industries to be established, and to thrive.”
The AAPowerLink project is expected to reach the financial close at the start of 2024, with construction works also expected to begin in the same year.
Electricity supplies to Darwin will begin in 2027 and the project is expected to be fully operational by 2029.
Earlier this year, Sun Cable secured A$210m in a Series B capital raise round to fund the AAPowerLink project.
Grok Ventures led the funding round together with Tattarang subsidiary Squadron Energy.
