Aussie CEO backs $18.7b project to supply solar power to Singapore
MELBOURNE : Atlassian Corp co-founder Mike Cannon-Brookes has pledged to help fund an ambitious A$20 billion (S$18.7 billion) project to supply solar power from northern Australia to Singapore by a subsea cable, an Australian newspaper reported yesterday.
The plan unveiled earlier this year by Singapore-based firm Sun Cable is to build the world's largest solar farm on a 15,000ha site in Tennant Creek in the Northern Territory, which could export 3 gigawatts of power through a 3,800km cable to Singapore.
This represents approximately a fifth of Singapore's electricity supply, said Sun Cable on its website.
Mr Cannon-Brookes did not specify how much of the "insane" project his family fund, Grok, planned to finance but said he was being joined by other Australian entrepreneurs and an announcement was likely before the end of the year.
"I'm backing it, we're going to make it work, I'm going to build a wire," the Australian Financial Review quoted Mr Cannon-Brookes as saying.
The project, which has been given major project status by the Northern Territory to help fast-track approvals, would include battery storage.
Mr Cannon-Brookes, who has been a vocal advocate for renewable energy in Australia, said the project could also expand to produce hydrogen fuel, which could be exported to markets such as Japan.
"This will be absolutely great - with world-leading engineering required all up and down. But we can do it," he was quoted as saying. - REUTERS
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