The world’s largest solar energy field approved by the Australian authorities

The solar field will be located in a remote area in northern Australia, and aims to deliver up to 6 gigawatts (GW) of renewable energy.

The hope is that the solar field will be in operation from around 2030.

It will help make Australia a superpower in renewable energy, says Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek.

– This massive project is a generation-defining type of infrastructure. It will be the largest solar field in the world, she says in a statement on Wednesday in connection with the Australian authorities giving the necessary environmental approvals.

124 square kilometers

The plan from the company SunCable is to build solar cells over an area of ​​124 square kilometers. By comparison, the Benban solar park in Egypt stretches over 37 square kilometers, which makes it clearly visible from space.

In the United Arab Emirates, the Al Dhafra Solar Park is 21 square kilometers in size, an area roughly one-fifth the size of the French capital, Paris.

SunCable’s plan is for the field to transport electricity to the Australian city of Darwin via an overhead cable, and then transport electricity on to industrial customers in Singapore via a submarine cable of a total of 4,300 kilometres.

4 of the 6 gigawatts the field is expected to produce are earmarked for households, while the last two will be sent to Singapore.

– Milestone

SunCable CEO in Australia, Cameron Garnsworthy, calls the approval from the Australian authorities a milestone for the project. But there is still much to be done before it can be built.

Among other things, approvals are needed from Singapore’s Energy Market Authority, Indonesia’s authorities and the Australian indigenous population.

– SunCable will now focus on the next planning stage to advance the project towards a final investment decision by 2027, says Garnsworthy.

Solar race

Although Australians are among the world’s most enthusiastic users of solar panels on their houses, the government has been hesitant to undertake large-scale renewable energy projects.

In 2022, renewable energy accounted for 32 percent of Australia’s total electricity production, according to government figures. In comparison, coal power accounted for 47 percent. Australia is also one of the world’s largest exporters of coal and gas.

Nor are they alone in now investing heavily in solar power – several countries around the world are now racing to get massive solar energy projects connected to the electricity grid. China is leading the way, building almost twice as much wind and solar capacity as all other countries combined.

Builds big

In June, the Midong project in the Xinjiang region of China was connected to the grid, with an operating capacity of 3.5 GW.

The project has been designated as China’s largest solar power project to date, surpassing the capacity of the two previous largest projects in the Ningxia and Qinghai regions.

But the Midong project will probably soon be bypassed, as China has several other major projects under construction, including the Tengger solar park in Inner Mongolia. It is estimated to have a capacity of 8 GW.

In total, projects with an expected capacity of 339 GW of solar and wind power are being built in China. Solar power accounts for 180 GW of these.

Sun and wind

India is also investing heavily in renewable energy with the construction of the Khavda solar power park in the desolate Gujarat region near the border with Pakistan.

The project is a mix of solar and wind power, and is planned to have a capacity of 30 GW when it is fully operational around 2027.

However, the Khavda park has already started generating electricity, according to one of the companies behind the huge project. Earlier this year, 551 megawatts came online.

The park is claimed to be the world’s largest field for renewable energy when it is finished, and will be able to supply 16.1 million households with electricity a year.

Behind China

The US is only behind China when it comes to increasing renewable energy capacity, but is working at a much slower rate.

Among the largest planned solar parks is the Chill Solar project, which is proposed to be built in the sunny state of Nevada, where there are already dozens of smaller solar plants. Chill Solar should be able to have a capacity of 2.25 GW.

The US has solar and wind projects with an expected capacity of 40 GW under construction, compared to China’s 339 GW.

– Must be doubled

Australia’s Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek is hailing the planned project as a way to alleviate Australia’s anticipated energy shortage problem. She believes it will create 14,300 new jobs in Northern Australia.

The project is one of the first in the world to export renewable energy from the sun and wind on a large scale, says director of the Energy Change Institute at the Australian National University, Ken Baldwin.

– Australia has some of the best solar and wind resources in the world, and as a result solar and wind power can be installed quickly, he tells AFP.

But it can’t stop here, especially if Australia is to reach its goal of net zero emissions by 2050, according to Baldwin. He adds that by the 2030s, Australia will need about 100 GW of solar and wind capacity, and that the SunCable project will only cover four of these.

– Over the past five years, Australia has invested heavily in solar and wind, but the investment must both double and triple in order to reach the climate targets.