--- description: SunCable could help Asia’s fossil-fuel dominated economies—particularly those with limited space for solar and wind farms—switch to cleaner electricity sources. title: Australian Billionaire Invests in Underwater Cable to Export Solar Power to Singapore image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt498ee743f0fc87a5/698a402322fb85761fe2f06e/Mike-Cannon-Brookes-SunCable.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Sustainability](/tag/sustainability/) ## Sustainability Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Australian Billionaire Wants Submarine Cable to Export Solar Power to Singapore and Beyond by [David Stringer / Bloomberg](/author/bloomberg/) ## David Stringer / Bloomberg Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Sep 7, 2023 8:30 AM CUT  Mike Cannon-Brookes, co-CEO of Atlassian, at the company’s R&D center in Bengaluru, Sept. 8, 2022. Mike Cannon-Brookes, co-CEO of Atlassian, at the company’s R&D center in Bengaluru, Sept. 8, 2022.Dhiraj Singh—Bloomberg/Getty Images by [David Stringer / Bloomberg](/author/bloomberg/) ## David Stringer / Bloomberg Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Sep 7, 2023 8:30 AM CUT Billionaire [Mike Cannon-Brookes](https://time.com/collection/100-most-influential-people-2022/6177813/mike-cannon-brookes/ "undefined") is making new progress on plans to export clean energy from Australia to Singapore through a 4,200-kilometer (2,610-mile) submarine cable after taking control of the stalled project. Cannon-Brookes’s Grok Ventures completed the acquisition of SunCable from administration and is advancing talks with authorities in both Singapore and Indonesia, the investment firm said Thursday. Revised plans envisage building a manufacturing plant for high voltage subsea cables to serve both the project and energy transmission developments globally. **Read More:** [_Tech Billionaire Mike Cannon-Brookes on How Australia Could Become a Renewable Energy Superpower_](https://time.com/6104003/mike-cannon-brookes-australia-renewable-energy/ "undefined") The plan “has all the component parts to make the next great Australian infrastructure initiative possible,” Cannon-Brookes said in a statement. “There’s huge upside for both Australia and our neighbors.” Under a first stage, a vast solar farm in Australia’s Northern Territory — forecast by Grok to become the world’s largest — would deliver at least an initial 900 megawatts of electricity supply to local industry around Darwin and 1.7 gigawatts for export to Singapore. The project aims to subsequently add a further 3 gigawatts for Australian customers. SunCable has been touted as among solutions to help Asia’s fossil-fuel dominated economies — particularly those with limited space for solar and wind farms — switch to cleaner electricity sources. Original developers saw the proposal as part of a potential super-grid spanning Japan to India. **Read More:** [_Could the World’s Largest Green Energy Hub Redefine How Companies Work With Indigenous People?_](https://time.com/6080182/australia-green-energy-aboriginal-people/ "undefined") The initiative, which had an early price tag of A$30 billion ($19 billion), went into voluntary administration in January following a dispute between Cannon-Brookes and fellow billionaire Andrew Forrest, then also an investor. Forrest — an advocate of exporting clean energy as green hydrogen or ammonia — argued the undersea cable plan wasn’t commercially viable. SunCable’s proposal involves the use of existing technologies, and a high level of customer interest in Singapore shows others consider the strategy to be feasible, Cannon-Brookes told reporters on a briefing call. “It is by far, I think, the cheapest way to export energy from Australia in volume and at affordable prices,” he said. Grok aims to lodge a submission with Singapore’s Energy Market Authority for a conditional energy import license this month, according to Cannon-Brookes. Negotiations are ongoing with Indonesia over the use of its territorial waters to lay cables. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/6311538/australia-singapore-suncable-clean-energy/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/6311538/australia-singapore-suncable-clean-energy/"},"headline":"Australian Billionaire Wants Submarine Cable to Export Solar Power to Singapore and Beyond","datePublished":"2023-09-07T08:30:00.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T08:53:07.691Z","description":"SunCable could help Asia’s fossil-fuel dominated economies—particularly those with limited space for solar and wind farms—switch to cleaner electricity sources.","url":"https://time.com/6311538/australia-singapore-suncable-clean-energy/","keywords":["Sustainability","Tech","wire"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt498ee743f0fc87a5/698a402322fb85761fe2f06e/Mike-Cannon-Brookes-SunCable.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"David Stringer / Bloomberg"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt498ee743f0fc87a5/698a402322fb85761fe2f06e/Mike-Cannon-Brookes-SunCable.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Atlassian CEO Mike Cannon-Brookes Interview","caption":"Atlassian CEO Mike Cannon-Brookes Interview","creditText":"Dhiraj Singh—Bloomberg/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/sustainability/","name":"Sustainability"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/6311538/australia-singapore-suncable-clean-energy/","name":"Australian Billionaire Wants Submarine Cable to Export Solar Power to Singapore and Beyond"}}]}] ```