One of Australia’s biggest renewable projects backed by prominent billionaires Andrew “Twiggy Forrest” and Mike Cannon-Brookes has collapsed.
Renewables giant Sun Cable had proposed building a $35 billion solar farm in the heart of the Northern Territory, with a cable to provide green power to Darwin and Singapore.
On Wednesday, the company confirmed it had gone into voluntary administration.
Christopher Hill, David McGrath and John Park of FTI Consulting have been appointed voluntary administrators.
In a statement, Sun Cable said the move followed an “absence of alignment” with shareholder objectives.
“While funding proposals were put forward, consensus could not be reached on the company’s future direction and funding structure,” a Sun Cable spokesman said.
Sun Cable is backed by mining magnate Andrew Forrest and tech billionaire Mike Cannon-Brookes.
Mr Cannon-Brookes is also the company’s chairman.
The Sun Cable spokesman said the voluntary administration process opened a way forward to access additional capital to continue developing the company’s signature Australia-Asia Powerlink (AAPowerlink) project.
The project aims to build 12,000 hectares of solar and ground battery storage at Powell Creek Station, about 70km south-west of Elliott in the NT.
Construction was due to begin next year.
Once completed, AAPowerlink intends to deliver 20 gigawatts (GW) of power to Darwin via overhead cables and then feed to Singapore via submarine cables.
“This project will generate enough renewable electricity to power more than three million homes per year,” stated a project brochure distributed in 2021.
“This is the equivalent of reducing CO2 emissions by 11.5 million tonnes or taking 2.5 million cars off the road each year.”
Sun Cable founder and chief executive David Griffin said the project was still “well positioned” for completion.
“As we have progressed in our work, the demand for a reliable and distributable 24/7 supply of renewable energy in the NT and the region has increased materially,” he said.
“Sun Cable looks forward to developing and operating the projects to meet this demand.”
Cannon-Brookes said: “Sun Cable has achieved a lot since it was founded in 2018. I’m sure it will play an important role in delivering green energy to the world, right here in Australia. I fully support this ambition and the team and I look forward to supporting the next chapter of the company”.