It's been promoted as the world's largest solar energy network to run from Darwin to Singapore and now Tasmania has been chosen to play an integral part. Sun-cable has selected Bell Bay as its preferred cable construction hub, but first it needs the nod from locals.
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TVTranscript
00:00 A sleepy Sunday, but Tasmania's leaders were high on energy.
00:06 "It is the largest investment attraction in my 49 years on this earth."
00:11 Renewable energy company Sun Cable has chosen a key site for its signature project, wanting
00:16 to set up its cable construction facility at Bell Bay so it can one day export solar
00:21 energy from the Northern Territory to Singapore.
00:24 "That's a long extension cord and they need somewhere to build it."
00:28 And not just long, it will be tall.
00:30 The company's website says it'll be a vertical build stretching into the northern Tasmanian
00:35 skyline as high as 200 metres.
00:39 Once led by two of Australia's richest men, the Sun Cable project has long created headlines.
00:44 As well as putting 12,000 hectares of solar panels in the middle of the Northern Territory,
00:51 Sun Cable wants to install one of the biggest battery networks possible to send the power
00:56 800km to Darwin and then onto Singapore using an undersea cable.
01:03 That's where Tasmania comes in.
01:04 By 2029 it could be home to the only cable construction facility in the Southern Hemisphere,
01:10 bringing $350 million into Tasmania's economy every year.
01:15 "We're all very much supportive about the future environment, fixing carbonisation and
01:20 this gives us an active hand in the game."
01:25 And not just one hand in the game.
01:27 It's projected to create 800 new jobs during construction and 400 while in operation.
01:33 And if approved, will begin construction in 2025.
01:35 "It will lead to jobs for kids who are in primary school and high school and college
01:41 right now."
01:42 Before it can move ahead, there'll be community consultation and then a formal planning process
01:47 either through local council or the major projects pathway.
01:50 [BLANK_AUDIO]