Sun Cable briefs Darwin business on $20b solar project

Sun Cable chief executive David Griffin has told Territory businesses they will have a key role to play in the delivery of the proposed $20 billion solar farm near Tennant Creek.

An aerial view of Royalla Solar Farm, 30km south of Canberra. Picture: AAP Image/Mick Tsikas

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Sun Cable chief executive David Griffin has told Territory businesses they will have a key role to play in the delivery of the proposed $20 billion solar farm near Tennant Creek.

Excitement for the project was evident when Mr Griffin flew into Darwin to brief a packed Energy Club event.

“There is a lot of talent and resources here and we want to make sure we know everyone’s capability to support the project,” Mr Griffin said.

“One of the outcomes of this trip to Darwin was to broaden my understanding of what local capabilities there are, which is very important.

“I was able to provide an update on the project time frames and some of the technical characteristics of the project.

“People can come forward to us and let us know how they can contribute to the project.”

Mr Griffin said he was both pleased and surprised to see more than 170 people attend the solar project briefing.

“The feedback was supportive,” he said. “This project has a lot of support — from political support across the various jurisdictions we are dealing with and from industry and other key stakeholders.”

“The response from the Singapore Government has been positive. They have been great to work with.

“Every country’s energy supply can always be done better. They’ve got, as everyone does, challenges that they are working very hard to address and I think our project offers a major part of that solution.”

Despite the project support Mr Griffin stressed the road ahead was still a very long one.

“It’s a long way to go … October 2023 is when we are targeting to achieve financial close and start construction,” he said. “There is an enormous amount of work to be done between now and then,

“The technology works. We are putting existing technology together in a new format.

“One of our biggest challenges is making sure the design in putting all these different technologies together into a system that what we are actually designing, is the optimal design and we are therefore getting the best out of it.

“Being a system over a very long distance, if you change one aspect of the design then it impacts on everything else.”