Meet the Australia-ASEAN Powerlink

Singapore’s attempt to achieve its goal of net-zero carbon emissions in the second half of the century faces some major hurdles due to the country’s unique geography. Without the land necessary to house large-scale solar generated power, Singapore has limited options in its attempt to pivot its power generation toward renewables. Currently, around 95 percent of its energy comes from burning natural gas.

Australia, however, does not have such geographic constraints. It has vast swaths of land that is both unutilized and unusable for conventional human activity. But what this land does have is an almost unlimited supply of direct sunlight. It is perfect for large-scale solar farms.

An ambitious new US$16 billion project is currently seeking to take advantage of Singapore’s problem and Australia’s complementary advantages. The proposed Australia-ASEAN Powerlink would create the world’s largest solar farm in the Northern Territory, the largest battery storage, and then the longest undersea cable from Darwin to Singapore at 3,750 kilometers. The proposal believes it will initially be able to supply 20 percent of Singapore’s power requirements.

There are some obvious engineering hurdles that will need to be cleared before this project could be viable. The proposed cable would be the longest power transmission cable in the world. However, in 2019 China was able to complete a transmission line from Changji to Xuancheng City – a distance of 3,293 kilometers – proving that power could be transmitted over such large distances with only minimal loss.

Running the cable underwater, however, is a more complex task. The Australian-ASEAN Powerlink would be six times longer than the current longest undersea power cable, Norned, which links Norway to the Netherlands, and it would have to navigate far more difficult terrain. While the Java Sea is relatively shallow and therefore uncomplex for modern engineering companies to be able to lay cable, the Timor Sea presents the main obstacle. It dips down to 1,700 meters in depth, adding to the difficulty in both sea floor mapping, as well as constructing cable that would withstand the pressures of those depths.

Italian company Prysmian believes they are capable of laying cable at depths of 3,000 meters below sea level. They constructed the current deepest cable between Sardina and the Italian mainland at 1,600 meters, but this is obviously a far shorter distance than the proposed Australian-ASEAN Powerlink.

Like everything involved in this project, the cabling will be a first. Yet that has not stopped the project from advancing. Subsea surveying has begun and a development agreement with the Northern Territory was signed earlier this year. The Australian government has recognized the project as one of “strategic significance.” Start of construction is scheduled for late 2023, with the project to be operational by 2027.

The Australian government’s recognition of the project as one of strategic significance is important to understanding how the ambition of this project correlates with Australia’s goals and objectives with ASEAN countries. The 2020-2024 Australia-ASEAN Plan of Action aims to deepen Australia’s cooperation with ASEAN countries across all spheres, including energy security. It is notable that the name of the Australia-ASEAN Powerlink is not Singapore exclusive; the project sees itself eventually expanding out through the rest of Southeast Asia.

Although the current Australian government has proved reluctant to pivot the country away from its large fossil fuel industries, there are enough rational people within both the government and the senior levels of the bureaucracy to understand that these industries are untenable in the long term. There is also an understanding that Australia has a unique resource with its vast, mostly uninhabited, territory and climatic conditions that are conducive to solar power generation.

Were the project to be successful, it could create an entirely new export industry for Australia. As the technology and capabilities of such projects progress, it may even have the ability to surpass the country’s current large fossil fuel industries. Given that it is also a project that is based on many firsts, it could also signal a new chapter for energy consumption worldwide by demonstrating the possibilities that other projects could emulate and expand upon.

There are of course many obstacles to overcome before this project becomes a reality. But ambition has become a necessity in addressing climate change, and there is hope that Australia can pivot itself away from being part of the problem and start to see itself as part of the solution.