On the 21st of august 2024, the Albanese government – which is the federal executive government of Australia, led by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese of the Australian Labor Party – approved the gigantic solar power project. Indeed, the solar farm will cover an area of 12,000 hectares of arid pastures between Darwin and Alice Springs, in Australia’s sparsely populated Northern Territory.
Tanya Plibersek, Minister for the Environment and Water of Australia, wrote on the government’s website : “SunCable’s Australia-Asia Power Link will be the biggest solar farm in Australia and is expected to generate up to 6GW of renewable energy including 4GW to be used in Darwin – which is the energy equivalent to power 3 million homes. This approval means the Albanese Government has ticked off enough renewable energy projects to power almost 7 million homes[1].”
- The aims of the project
The Australian government has been very honest about its main objective: to become the world leader in green energy. The country, whose energy mix in 2022 contained a 32% share of renewables and 47% of coal in total electricity production, is working hard to achieve its goal of zero net emissions by 2050. In recent years, the country has been particularly hard hit by the effects of climate change, such as fires and floods.
This solar power plant project will comprise conventional elements, solar panels and batteries, but will eventually include a cable linking Australia to Singapore. The solar power plant is due to start producing in 2030. According to the Australian Minister for the Environment, it is expected to create 14,300 jobs in Northern Australia.
- The impacts of the project
Social acceptability is at the heart of the potential impact of this project. In fact, as is often the case with wind farm projects, this type of infrastructure can “alter the attachment residents have to their home areas[2]”. However, the north of Australia is not the most densely populated area of the country, so perhaps there won’t be this kind of problem.
Nevertheless, one of the unedeniable impacts of this projects is that – as Northern Asutralia is the heartland of Aboriginal culture – it will affect to a greater or lesser extent the indigenous people that live in this area.
However, the final decision on the project will have to wait until 2027. It still has to be approved by a number of stakeholders, including the Singapore Energy Regulatory Market Authority, the Indonesian government and indigenous communities in Australia.
Solar energy seems to be gaining more and more supporters. In July, Chile inaugurated its largest photovoltaic power plant, in the Atacama Desert. The project, backed by the Generadora Metropolitana energy group – a 50/50 joint undertaking between the French company EDF and its Chilean partner AME – has a production capacity of 480 megawatts (MW), enough to supply electricity to almost half a million homes. The 882,720 photovoltaic panels cover an area of 435 hectares, the equivalent of 370 football fields[3].
[1] Minister for the Environment and Water, Tanya Plibersek “Albanese Government gives environment approvals to Australia’s biggest renewable energy project ever”, publiched on the 21st August 2024. Link : https://minister.dcceew.gov.au/plibersek/media-releases/albanese-government-gives-environment-approvals-australias-biggest-renewable-energy-project-ever
[2] S. Fast, W. Mabee “ Place-making and trust-building : the influence of policy on host community responses to wind farms” (2015)
[3] La Tribune – « Climat : l’Australie se lance dans la construction de la « plus grande » centrale solaire au monde », written by Matthieu Viviani, published on the 21st August 2024. Link : https://www.latribune.fr/climat/energie-environnement/climat-l-australie-se-lance-dans-la-construction-de-la-plus-grande-centrale-solaire-au-monde-1004526.html
