SINGAPORE – Discussions on a proposal from Sun Cable to supply solar power from northern Australia to Singapore will continue, following its rescue from collapse by part-owner Mike Cannon-Brookes on Friday.
Responding to queries from The Straits Times, the Energy Market Authority (EMA) said it welcomes Sun Cable’s interest in exporting electricity to the Republic.
“As the discussions are commercially sensitive, we are not able to share further information,” the regulator added.
In a written parliamentary reply in February, Minister for Trade and Industry Gan Kim Yong said Sun Cable’s proposal was among more than 20 received by the EMA in its ongoing requests for proposals for electricity imports.
Although the EMA had been clarifying Singapore’s technical requirements with the renewable energy firm, it did not make financial and other commitments to Sun Cable, he added.
Mr Gan, who was responding to questions on the impact of Sun Cable’s collapse, also welcomed the Singapore-based company to resume discussions when it was ready to do so.
In a Sun Cable statement on Friday, it said its voluntary administrators will now work with Helietta Holdings 1, an entity affiliated with Mr Cannon-Brookes’ Grok Ventures, to complete the transaction.
Completion of the deal is expected to occur at or before the end of July, Reuters reported.
Infrastructure investor Quinbrook joined a Grok-led consortium to buy Sun Cable, Grok reportedly said in a separate statement.
The estimated A$30 billion (S$26.4 billion) project was at risk of unravelling after Sun Cable said in January that it would enter voluntary administration, following disagreements between key backers Mr Cannon-Brookes and commodities magnate Andrew Forrest.
Both reportedly disagreed on funding options and plans to export electricity abroad, including via the proposed Australia-Asia PowerLink. This would send power from a 20 gigawatt (GW) solar farm with the world’s biggest battery in northern Australia to Singapore via a 4,200km undersea cable.
Mr Forrest’s Squadron Energy, which holds a 25 per cent stake in Sun Cable, sought to overhaul the project, which raised A$210 million in capital in 2022, to focus on feeding green industries at home instead.
He also expressed plans to scrap the cable link to Singapore, citing concern over the commercial viability and cost of an undersea cable almost six times the length of the longest one in the world currently.
