Skip to content
  • EC Webcasts
  • Power Perspectives™
  • Special Issues
  • PowerSessions™
  • Sponsors
  • Home
  • Community
    • Q&A
    • Posts
    • Members
    • Experts
  • Groups
    • The Power Industry Network™

      Utility Business Network
      EnergyBiz® Network
      • Utility Professionals
      • Utility Management 
      • Customer Care 
      • HR & Recruitment
      • Resource Management
      Generation Network
      Generation Network
      • Generation Professionals
      • Clean Power Group
      Energy Management Network
      Energy Management Network
      • Load Management
      • Energy Efficiency
      Intelligent Utility Network
      Intelligent Utility® Network
      • Digital Utility
      • Mobile Workforce
      Grid Network
      Grid Network
      • Grid Professionals
      • Transmission Professionals
      Energy & Sustainability Network
      Energy & Sustainability
      Network
      • The Energy Collective
      • Oil & Gas Professionals
      • Clean Energy Business Network
      • Enel Foundation
  • Topics
  • Jobs
  • News
  • Calendar
  • Resources
    • Podcasts
    • Case Studies
    • White Papers
    • Recorded Webinars
  • Subscribe
  • More
    • Subscribe
  • ×
  • Create new content
    • Sign In
    • Apply for Membership
Part of Grid Network »

Transmission Professionals Group

The Transmission Professionals special interest group covers the distribution of power from generation to final destination. 

Join
  • Home
  • Posts
  • Q&A
  • Calendar
  • News
  • Members
  • Experts
  • Sponsors
Author Profile
Deepak Seth's picture
Deepak Seth
Sr. Adviser Independent
Follow
Contact

About me

Deepak Seth was most recently Principal Director, Technology Consulting at Accenture. He provided Innovation and Thought Leadership as part of Accenture's CIO Advisory practice for clients in the...

  • Member since 2019
  • 26 items added with 9,115 views

Top Members

WARNING: SIGN-IN

You need to be a member of Energy Central to access some features and content. Please sign-in or register to continue.

Shared Link

  • Share
  • Sign in to Vote Like (2)
  • Comment (6)
  • Aug 7, 2020 9:41 pm GMTAug 7, 2020 9:22 pm GMT
  • 804 views

Billionaires invest in giant Australian solar farm to supply power to Singapore | Renewable energy | The Guardian

If successful, the development would include a 10-gigawatt-capacity array of panels spread across 15,000 hectares near Tennant Creek, backed by about 22 gigawatt-hours in battery storage. Some of the electricity generated would be consumed in Darwin, but the bulk would be exported to Singapore via a 4,500km high-voltage direct-current transmission network, including a 3,800km submarine cable running through Indonesian waters. The developers claim it could provide one-fifth of the island city-state’s power needs.

Read More
Source: amp-theguardian-com.cdn.ampproject.org

Some out of the box thinking here- if internet can "transported" via under sea cables then why not electricity?

  • report
  • clean-power
  • energy-storage
  • solar-power
  • transmission
Deepak Seth's picture

Thank Deepak for the Post!

Energy Central contributors share their experience and insights for the benefit of other Members (like you). Please show them your appreciation by leaving a comment, 'liking' this post, or following this Member.

Sign in to Vote Like this post
Follow
More posts from this member
  • Nuclear fusion reactor could be here as soon as 2025
  • New Zealand Is About to Test Long-Range Wireless Power Transmission
  • Billionaires invest in giant Australian solar farm to supply power to Singapore | Renewable energy | The Guardian
  • World’s First Integrated Hydrogen Power-to-Power Demonstration Launched

Discussions

Spell checking: Press the CTRL or COMMAND key then click on the underlined misspelled word.

Sign in to Participate

Matt Chester's picture
Matt Chester on Aug 7, 2020

Out of the box thinking will be necessary in the coming years-- I'll be eager to see if this is WAY TOO out the box, or the kind of moonshot that can really change the landscape of how we do things. Where do you think it lies, Deepak?

  • Sign in or Register to post comments
Deepak Seth's picture
Deepak Seth on Aug 10, 2020

Seems like though laying cable underwater is cheaper than stringing up aerial transmission lines, the cost is driven up by the need to convert AC to DC .

From another article: https://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/17/business/energy-environment/17power.html#:~:text=Stern's%2065%2Dmile%20cable%20cost,to%20use%20in%20buried%20cables

"And underwater lines are still more expensive than lines on transmission towers. Mr. Stern’s 65-mile cable cost about $600 million, and a 53-mile cable under San Francisco Bay cost about $505 million. Much of the cost in each case is to transform the electricity to direct current, a form that is easier to use in buried cables. Standard lines hung on towers run from $1 million to $4 million a mile, depending on terrain and other factors. If more underwater lines are built, the higher costs would have a small impact on electric bills."

Not sure what research is underway to reduce the cost of conversion to DC.

  • Sign in or Register to post comments
Bob Meinetz's picture
Bob Meinetz on Aug 8, 2020

Anyone considering battery capacity a substitute for dispatchable generation should have the number 8,760 hard-wired into their consciousness. It's a constant - the number of hours in a year. Dividing any country's annual energy consumption by it will yield the country's average rate of consumption (power). Singapore annually consumes 50,000 GWh of energy, so the country is consuming energy at a rate of 5.7 GW (billion watts), averaged over the year.

At that rate, Singapore will consume the entire capacity of Sun Cable's 22 GWh battery pack in 4 hours. So whenever the wind doesn't blow for more than 4 hours, its $30+ billion project will be useless. According to EIA, 22 gigawatthours (GWh) of battery storage will cost USD 26.4 billion. They'll need to be replaced every 10-12 years.

Is there an electrical engineer in the house? Tell him to go home, we've got a big renewables project to sell.

  • Sign in or Register to post comments
Roger Arnold's picture
Roger Arnold on Aug 9, 2020

To call this "ambitious" is an understatement. The proposed undersea power cable would be 7x longer than the next-longest undersea power cable. That's the NorNed power cable linking Norway and the Netherlands. Per Wikipedia, the capacity of the NorNed cable is 700 MW -- less than a tenth of what's proposed in this project. 

Such a long, high capacity undersea power cable may be technically possible, but whether it would make economic sense is a different story. Singapore might do better building a cluster of nuclear plants, or importing floating nuclear plants from Russia.

  • Sign in or Register to post comments
Deepak Seth's picture
Deepak Seth on Aug 10, 2020

Great point. I am sure the bankers and investors will validate the economics. Here's another interesting article about underwater cables in the US : https://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/17/business/energy-environment/17power.html#:~:text=Stern's%2065%2Dmile%20cable%20cost,to%20use%20in%20buried%20cables.

"The cost of putting a cable under water can be lower than burying cables on land, because workers can lay the cables from giant reels, allowing stretches of more than a mile with no splices. "

 

  • Sign in or Register to post comments
Deepak Seth's picture
Deepak Seth on Aug 10, 2020

Per the article, the source of the power is not wind but a solar array, also the intent is to meet 1/5th of the island's power needs not its entirety. The article is silent on the demand side but I am guessing there may be enough discrete demand on the island whose consumption profile can match the supply/generation profile of this source. The jury is still out it seems.

  • Sign in or Register to post comments

Get Published - Build a Following

The Energy Central Power Industry Network is based on one core idea - power industry professionals helping each other and advancing the industry by sharing and learning from each other.

If you have an experience or insight to share or have learned something from a conference or seminar, your peers and colleagues on Energy Central want to hear about it. It's also easy to share a link to an article you've liked or an industry resource that you think would be helpful.

Start a Post »                 Learn more about posting on Energy Central »

Your access to Member Features is limited.

Sign InApply for membership
  • Share a link

Group Sponsors


Become a sponsor
Related Content
Green hydrogen and unicorns
Texas power system was minutes from total blackout during winter storm
Biden Climate Policy Chief Believes Batteries Will One Day Replace Nuclear Power
Grid Enhancing Technologies

Recent Comments

Bob Meinetz
Bob commented on ...
What's behind $15,000 electricity bills in Texas?
"That is how Net-Metering is supposed to work."
Bob Meinetz
Bob commented on ...
Don't blame turbines for Texas crisis
Too funny.
Bob Meinetz
Bob commented on ...
8 things that need to happen this decade to reach net zero emissions by 2050
"'... a build rate of 61 new reactors per year could entirely replace current fossil fuel electricity generation by 2050.'
Jim Stack
Jim commented on ...
Don't blame turbines for Texas crisis
I'm glad there is records of the power sources. If not they would never admit it.

Sponsors & Partners

EnergyCentralJobs
Esri
Energy Central
Bentley Systems, Inc.
Anterix
S&C Electric Company
Fluix
Owl Cyber Defense
ACI Worldwide
CTC Global
AESP
PLMA (Peak Load Management Alliance)
Guidehouse

Energy Central
Our Mission
Our mission at Energy Central is to help global power industry professionals work better. Our Power Industry Network™ platform is built to help our members connect with each other, share their knowledge & experience and advance their careers in the industry. Membership is open to professionals working at utilities and organizations supporting the industry.

Energy Central

  • Membership
  • Community Standards
  • Participate!
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Service
  • About Us
  • Advertise with Us

Get Social

  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • Facebook

Stay Connected

  • Subscribe
  • Follow via RSS
  • Contact Us