Forrest mulls bid to buy Sun Cable solar farm, ditch Singapore link

Mining magnate Andrew Forrest has declared he still supports Sun Cable’s plans to build a giant solar farm in northern Australia despite a fallout with the project’s other billionaire investor, Mike Cannon-Brookes, over whether to link it to Singapore via a 4200-kilometre underwater cable.

The company behind the visionary 20-gigawatt Sun Cable solar and battery farm in the Northern Territory was plunged into voluntary administration last week after Forrest and Cannon-Brookes – the country’s two richest men – were unable to agree on new funding terms.

Its collapse came amid a disagreement between the former business partners about whether to export a portion of the project’s renewable energy to Singapore or use it all domestically. Tech billionaire Cannon-Brookes’ privately owned Grok Ventures on Friday said all shareholders except Forrest wanted to prioritise the original plan.

“This was the reason the founders started the company, and the reason investors invested in the company, in the first place,” a Grok spokesperson said. “Once operating, there would be energy generation coming out of Sun Cable to provide renewable energy to both Singapore and various projects in the Northern Territory.”

Squadron Energy, part of the Forrest family’s private company Tattarang Group, has confirmed it is considering making a proposal to buy Sun Cable. It said it supports plans for an 800-kilometre link from the solar and battery farm to Darwin, but no longer supports the Singapore connection.

“Following a comprehensive technical and financial analysis, that included listening to customer feedback, Squadron Energy has concluded that Sun Cable’s Australia-Asia PowerLink project is not commercially viable,” Squadron Energy chairman John Hartmann said.

“However, Squadron Energy continues to believe in the vision for a game-changing solar and battery project in the North Territory’s Barkly region, including the proposed connection to Darwin.”

A technical and financial analysis, as well as customer feedback, had led Squadron Energy to conclude that the Sun Cable’s Australia-Asia PowerLink project was not commercially viable, the company said.