Australia today approved plans to build a giant solar park in the country’s north, a project it says will create “the world’s largest solar energy belt”.

This project, known as SunCable, spans 120,000 acreswill be located in Australia’s sun-drenched Northern Territory. Its cost is estimated at 21 billion euros and has the backing of tech billionaire and environmentalist Mike Cannon-Brookes.

“It will be the largest solar belt in the world, making Australia a world leader in green energy,” Plibersek noted.

SunCable’s grandiose project

Australian Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek said the massive solar park would generate enough energy to power three million households and would include photovoltaics, solar panels and a long-term cable connecting Australia to Singapore.

This solar park will provide four gigawatts of energy per hour for national use. Another two gigawatts will be sent to Singapore, covering 15% of that country’s needs.

Its collectors will also be able to store up to 40 gigawatts.

The solar park, which is expected to start producing power in 2030, will also enable the creation of “14,300 jobs in northern Australia”, the environment minister added.

The Australian government’s green light is a “significant moment in the development of the project,” said SunCable Australia managing director Cameron Garnsworthy.

However, in order to see the light of day, it will still need to go through several stages. It would have to be approved by a range of bodies, including Singapore’s energy market regulator, the Indonesian government and Australian aboriginal communities.

“SunCable will now focus its efforts on the next stage of planning to advance this project toward a final investment decision anticipated for 2027,” Garnsworthy noted.

This solar park is clearly a key stage for Australia to become a “clean energy powerhouse”, the director general of the non-governmental organization Climate Council Amanda Mackenzie underlined at the same time.

Projects of this kind are necessary to “provide affordable energy and reduce climate pollution,” he added.

Ken Baldwin, director of a research center at the Australian National University in Canberra, said of the project that it was a “world first” in the export of solar and wind energy.

Canberra will need to continue down this path, however, if the country is to achieve its goal of zero emissions by 2050.

Australia has “invested massively in solar and wind over the last five years, but it needs to double and triple that investment” to meet its target, Baldwin noted.

Canberra announced in May that it plans to phase out natural gas beyond 2050, noting that its dependence on the fossil fuel will not prevent it from achieving zero emissions within the next 30 years.

Australia is currently one of the world’s main exporters of coal and natural gas, but it is also strongly affected by the effects of climate change (extreme heat, floods and bushfires).

In 2022, 32% of Australia’s total energy generation came from renewables, compared to 47% from coal, according to the latest figures released by the government.