Bids for Sun Cable lodged as the billionaires’ battle for the renewables megaproject endures

Suitors have lodged bids for Sun Cable, as two of Australia’s richest men battle for control of the $35bn clean energy mega-project in northern Australia.

If Andrew Forrest winds the bidding war he is likely to replace Sun Cable’s management.

Suitors have lodged bids for Sun Cable, as two of Australia’s richest men battle for control of the visionary $35bn clean energy mega-project in northern Australia.

Sun Cable was placed into voluntary administration in January after Andrew Forrest and Mike Cannon-Brookes clashed over funding, management and strategy of the company.

Both want to take ownership of the revived venture but they have contrasting visions of the renewable energy venture, and a final decision on who will be victorious could emerge this week, according to sources familiar with the deal.

Mr Cannon-Brookes is continuing to pursue a near 5000km undersea cable to provide cheap electricity to Singapore.

But at 4200km, the link to Singapore would be more than five times bigger than the longest submarine link yet proposed – the 767km Viking link between the UK and Denmark – which has fed scepticism about its via­bility.

Following the voluntary administration of Sun Cable, Mr Cannon-Brookes provided the venture with an interest-free loan of $65m to continue operations for six months. The funding arrangement led to suggestions that Mr Cannon-Brookes was in pole position for the renewable energy project.

Dr Forrest envisages Sun Cable will be a domestic play, generating vast quantities of renewable energy to produce green hydrogen and green ammonia.

Should Dr Forrest win control of Sun Cable, however, it would mark a significant expansion of Squadron Energy’s ­renewable energy assets as he moves aggressively to realise his ambition of creating a green ­hydrogen export industry.

Mike Cannon-Brookes wants Sun Cable to supply energy to Singapore.

A spokesman for Dr Forrest’s private investment group, Tattarang, declined to comment.

Squadron, Dr Forrest’s private energy unit, is already set to become Australia’s largest renewable energy generator after snapping up CWP Renewables for $4bn in December last year.

Green hydrogen is a major focus of Fortescue Future Industries, part of the Dr Forrest-chaired Fortescue Metals that late last year hired former NT chief minister Michael Gunner to head up its northern Australian operation.

Should he win the battle, Dr Forrest is likely to replace the management of Sun Cable after growing unhappy with cost overruns.

Sun Cable was expected to be funded through 2023 after raising $210m in a capital raise in March 2022, but it was forced to return to the market late last year – stoking frustrations between the billionaires.

The CWP deal will propel Squadron into Australia’s largest renewable player with a 2.4 gigawatt portfolio and a local development pipeline of 20GW.

Its portfolio will provide enough electricity to power 8.5 million homes, more than double the number of homes in NSW.

It pits the Forrest fortune up against the deep pockets of Canada’s Brookfield, the company behind an $18.7bn takeover offer for Origin Energy, and with a plan to install 14GW of new green generation over the next decade.

Originally published as Bids for Sun Cable lodged as the billionaires’ battle for the renewables megaproject endures