World's largest solar field approved by Australian authorities

The solar farm is set to be located in a remote area of ​​northern Australia and aims to provide up to 6 gigawatts of renewable energy.

The hope is to have the solar field operational from around 2030.

Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek says the project will help make Australia a renewable energy superpower.

“This massive project is a generation-defining infrastructure. It will be the world’s largest solar farm,” she said in a statement on Wednesday, in response to Australian authorities granting the necessary environmental approvals.

124 square kilometers

SunCable’s plan is to build solar cells on an area of ​​124 square kilometers. By comparison, Egypt’s Benban Solar Park spans 37 square kilometers, making it clearly visible from space.

In the United Arab Emirates, the Al Dhafra Solar Park covers an area of ​​21 square kilometres, an area roughly equivalent to one-fifth the size of the French capital, Paris.

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SunCable's plan is for the field to transmit electricity to the Australian city of Darwin via an overhead cable, and then to industrial customers in Singapore via a 4,300-kilometre undersea cable.

Four of the 6 gigawatts expected to be generated by the field will be allocated to households, while the remaining two will be sent to Singapore.

– Turn

SunCable Australia CEO Cameron Garnsworthy describes the approval as a milestone for the project. But there is still much to be done before it can be built.

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Among other things, approvals are needed from the Energy Market Authority of Singapore, Indonesian authorities and Indigenous Australians.

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

Solar race

Although Australians are among the world's most enthusiastic users of solar panels in their homes, the government has been reluctant to implement large-scale renewable energy projects.

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

It’s not alone in investing heavily in solar, with countries around the world now racing to connect massive solar projects to the grid. China is leading the way, building nearly twice as much wind and solar capacity as all other countries combined.

big building

In June, the Meidong project in China's Xinjiang region was connected to the grid, with an operational capacity of 3.5 gigawatts.

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

But the Meidong project is likely to be overtaken soon, 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 gigawatts.

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In total, 339 gigawatts of solar and wind power projects are under construction in China, with solar accounting for 180 gigawatts of that.

sun and wind

India is also investing heavily in renewable energy by building the Khavda solar power plant in a desolate region of Gujarat near the border with Pakistan.

The project is a combination of solar and wind energy, and is planned to have a capacity of 30 gigawatts when it is fully operational around 2027.

However, Khavda Park has already started generating electricity, according to one of the companies behind the mega project. Earlier this year, 551 megawatts of electricity was provided.

The park is said to be the world's largest renewable energy field when completed, and will be able to supply 16.1 million households with electricity annually.

Behind China

The United States is behind only China when it comes to adding renewable energy capacity, but it is operating at a much slower rate.

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Among the largest planned solar parks is the Chill Solar project, which is proposed to be built in sunny Nevada, where there are already dozens of small solar plants. Chill Solar should be able to reach 2.25 gigawatts of capacity.

The United States has an expected 40 gigawatts of solar and wind projects under construction, compared to 339 gigawatts in China.

– It must be doubled.

Australian Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek has hailed the planned project as a way to alleviate Australia’s projected energy shortages. She believes it will create 14,300 new jobs in northern Australia.

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

“Australia has some of the best solar and wind resources in the world, and as a result solar and wind can be installed quickly,” he told AFP.

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But it can’t stop there, especially if Australia is to reach its goal of net zero emissions by 2050, Baldwin says. By the 2030s, Australia will need about 100 gigawatts of solar and wind power, he says, and the SunCable project will cover just four of them.

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