Sun Cable, Indonesian Govt Sign MoU To Unlock $150 Billion In Renewable Potential

Australian solar and storage developer Sun Cable, which has been in the limelight for its massive plans to export renewable power generated in Australia to Singapore through a trans ocean power line, has entered into an MoU with the Indonesian government now, to unlock more than $150 billion in green industry growth in the archipelago. The focus on South East Asia has been a constant for Sun Cable, besides it’s plans to get into green hydrogen manufacturing too.

The MoU was signed at the G20/B20 summit in Bali by Sun Cable founder and CEO David Griffin and Indonesia’s minister for energy and mineral resources Arifin Tasrif.

The long term plan is to build out five key industries identified in a joint study as having the potential to enable green growth and add up to $A171 billion (IDR1,600 trillion) to Indonesia’s GDP by 2035.

The five industries, identified in the study by Sun Cable and Indonesia’s energy department (EDSM), include mining and minerals processing, energy and fuels, transport manufacturing, food processing and agriculture, and IT infrastructure.

Indonesia, besides being a large coal producer, is also among the leading producers of nickel, a mineral in particularly high demand for lithium ion batteries,

The Challenge In Indonesia

With over 17,000 islands making up the archipelago, Indonesia faces a unique challenge of building out a dependable grid, particularly one powered by renewables that will enable it to go for net zero.

“Energy infrastructure is very important to connect the centers of great energy production to centers of high energy consumption,” said minister Tasrif.

“Thus, Indonesia is planning to build a super grid to address mismatch between renewable energy resources and the location of high electricity demand areas as well as maintaining the electricity system stability and security.”

Enter Sun Cable’s Australia-Asia PowerLink (AAPL)

Sun Cable, AAPL seeks to build 20 GW of solar farms in Australia’s Northern Territory, and up to 42GWh of battery storage.

This massive power infrastructure will ride a 4,200km sub-sea cable to sell power to industries in Singapore, besides local use. It will pass through Indonesian waters, for which permission has already been granted by that country.