A renewable energy project in Australia called the globe’s largest solar farm in development has revealed its planned location.
The AUD$20 billion farm – the soul of a far-reaching electricity network deemed the Australia–ASEAN Power Link – will be constructed at a cattle station in the Northern Territory, between Darwin and Alice Springs.
The sizable 10-gigawatt array – situated across approximately 20,000 football fields’ worth of photovoltaic panels – might be located near the core of the Australian outback, but the energy derived from the plant will be transported abroad.
The largest solar farm could be seen from space. The project anticipates building of the world’s longest submarine power cable, which will export electricity from outback Australia to Singapore through a 4,500-kilometre (2,800 miles) high-voltage direct current (HVDC) network.
For this transmission system to be rendered operable, the PowerLink, being developed by Singaporean company Sun Cable, must develop the world’s largest battery, which will be located near Darwin on the north coast of Australia.
The network should be able to transport current from the array at Newcastle Waters approximately 750 kilometres north, at which point it would be stored at the Darwin battery.
A percentage of the current will penetrate the regional Darwin grid, but most will be exported through more 3,700 kilometres of undersea cables lining the ocean bed, initially through Indonesian waters, before finally venturing as far away as Singapore.
Once the electricity makes its long trip, it should be able to supply power for more than 1 million Singaporeans – about 20 percent of the sovereign island’s populace – and, soon, Indonesians should be accessed as well.
Once approvals are attained – such as environmental assessments for a project anticipated to consume about 120 square kilometres (almost 50 square miles) of land – building is anticipated to start in 2023, with energy production starting in 2026, and the initial exported electricity could be flowing in 2027.
The Power Link could be a ‘shining’ moment for solar power and for the clean energy industry, with energy running across the miles.
Source: Science Alert.Com