Cannon-Brookes’ SunCable energy project names former Origin executive as its new CEO

The Mike Cannon-Brookes-backed SunCable undersea energy delivery project has named a former Origin executive to take on the role of CEO.

The proposed SunCable generation site in the Northern Territory.

SunCable, the gigantic renewable energy project owned and backed by billionaire Mike Cannon-Brookes, has named a new chief executive, tasking a former Origin Energy executive with shepherding the project through a critical phase.

SunCable said Ryan Willemsen-Bell had been appointed the development’s new chief executive. Mr Willemsen-Bell joins from Origin, where he led the future fuels and carbon division. He spent 16 years at Australia’s largest electricity and gas retailer.

Mr Willemsen-Bell joins SunCable as the behemoth project grapples with finalising undersea cable mapping, the project procurement of the cable and continuing and land user agreements with Indigenous groups.

Each painstaking step will need to be delivered before the project, which plans to include the world’s largest solar plant, battery, and longest undersea power cable, materialises.

SunCable’s generation site in the Northern Territory.

Mr Willemsen-Bell said the challenges perfectly chimed with his experience.

“I have spent much of my ­career within Australia’s energy market pursuing the adoption of emerging technologies and, most recently, developing large-scale infrastructure projects to support carbon abatement,” Mr Willemsen-Bell said. “I’m excited I can continue to focus my passion on developing a nation and region-defining project.”

Should SunCable succeed, it would mark a defining moment for Mr Cannon-Brookes – who has taken a prominent role in leading Australia’s energy transition through his advocacy stake in AGL Energy and clean energy investments via his private investment company, Grok Ventures.

Grok CEO Tan Kueh said Mr Willemsen-Bell’s experience would be invaluable.

“We are thrilled to have someone of Ryan’s experience to lead the company through its next phase of development,” Ms Kueh said. “SunCable is on a mission to support decarbonisation of the Asia-Pacific region and Ryan’s contribution to the renewable energy sector and nation-building projects will be invaluable to SunCable as it progresses development of its flagship Australia-Asia PowerLink (AAPowerLink) project.

In its first iteration, SunCable plans to supply 4GW of renewable energy to industrial users in Darwin, which would be a major fillip to the NT government’s plan to develop the region as a hub for manufacturing and energy.

The Middle Arm Sustainable Development Precinct in Darwin is the centrepiece of the NT’s economic growth plan. It wants to lure development in renewable hydrogen, advanced manufacturing, carbon capture and storage, and minerals processing, which will all need significant amounts of electricity.

The project also aims to supply 1.75GW of electricity to Singapore by an undersea cable stretching more than 4000km.

But the scale of the challenge has been widely disparaged, with critics questioning the investment rationale for sending renewable energy to Singapore.

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.

Mr Cannon-Brookes said he was confident SunCable would be a significant contributor to Singapore’s target of importing 4GW from low-carbon sources by 2035.

Originally published as Cannon-Brookes’ SunCable energy project names former Origin executive as its new CEO