SunCable Chief Operating Officer, Mitesh Patel, says that long-term cross-border energy partnerships and regional connectivity will serve as stabilising forces as Asia moves towards decarbonisation.
“We are seeing increasing discussions on the importance of inter-regional co-operation for an Asean renewable power grid,” he said speaking on panels at the Asian Clean Energy Summit (ACES) and International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) Forum, as part of Singapore International Energy Week (SIEW).
He said power corridors like SunCable’s AAPowerLink create access to utility-scale renewable resources that may not be available within smaller or more urbanised countries like Singapore.
“By connecting resource-rich areas, like Australia’s Northern Territory, with demand centres like Singapore, interconnectors enable countries to decarbonise faster.”
“The demand for renewable energy in Southeast Asia is significant enough to underpin and commercialise a point-to-point interconnector like the AAPowerLink project, which also provides energy security through diversification of geography and supply.”
He added that the recent Cross-Border Electricity Trade (CBET) framework agreed between Australia and Singapore secured an international market opportunity for Australia’s world class renewable resources and is an important government-to-government agreement that will support SunCable’s future exports of renewable electricity to Singapore.
“The agreement establishes a framework for harmonising standards, governance, subsea cable infrastructure, and renewable energy certificates – providing greater regulatory clarity and investment confidence,” he said.
“It reinforces the shared commitment of both countries to expanding renewable energy’s role within the Asean Power Grid and establishes Australia as a key contributor to regional decarbonisation efforts.”
“By delivering clean, competitive energy at scale, SunCable will position Australia to be a global leader in clean energy and sustainable development, and a key partner in Singapore and Asean’s decarbonisation,” he said.
He went on to say that projects like SunCable’s AAPowerlink catalyse investment, regional supply chains, job creation and development of new competencies in subsea interconnectors to pave the path for decarbonisation of archipelagic countries in Asean.
“Large-scale infrastructure projects draw billions into the economy, not just into the generation precinct, but also into marine infrastructure, vessels, cable supply chain, grid equipment, and skilled labour. It also creates a stable demand signal for local manufacturing, helping OEMs justify capacity expansion in the region,” he said.
About SunCable
SunCable is developing Australia’s world class solar resource in the Barkly region of the Northern Territory in Australia, to deliver highly competitive and reliable renewable electricity at scale to energy-intensive industrial customers in the Northern Territory and Southeast Asia.
SunCable is advancing a staged development plan that can supply power to industrial customers in the Barkly region of the Northern Territory in the late 2020’s, to Darwin in the early 2030’s, and enable cross-border electricity trade with Singapore and into South-East Asia from the mid-2030s.
The project has secured principle environmental approvals from the Northern Territory and Australian governments, land agreements, and Conditional Approval to import electricity into Singapore. It attracts investor, government, and community support and continues to make strong progress.
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