Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Australian government approves AAPowerLink project to export solar to Singapore

pv-tech.org

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

31–40 of 299 posts

Re: Australian government approves AAPowerLink project to export solar to Singapore

#31

Post by tdrz »

This sounds good! I don't know much about electricity, can anyone tell me if such an undersea power cable could be technically feasible between Europe and North America? Possibly taking a detour through Iceland which has significant geothermal resources.

I understand that it would take much more than just the cable between the two continents to make this work - right now there are issue on the continents themselves to get the electricity from one place to another. But with the sun shining most of the time on one of those two continents and with other (hopefully renewable) energy sources on either side of the pond, we might get to have green and cheap energy!

Re: Australian government approves AAPowerLink project to export solar to Singapore

#33

Post by topherhunt »

tdrz wrote: post #31

This sounds good! I don't know much about electricity, can anyone tell me if such an undersea power cable could be technically feasible between Europe and North America? Possibly taking a detour through Iceland which has significant geothermal resources. I understand that it would take much more than just the cable between the two continents to make this work - right now there are issue on the continents themselves t…

This is totally unresearched, but my gut says it would be much higher ROI for Europe + North America to independently source solar from their respective nearby deserts, paired with batteries?

Re: Australian government approves AAPowerLink project to export solar to Singapore

#34

Post by Tade0 »

tdrz wrote: post #31

This sounds good! I don't know much about electricity, can anyone tell me if such an undersea power cable could be technically feasible between Europe and North America? Possibly taking a detour through Iceland which has significant geothermal resources. I understand that it would take much more than just the cable between the two continents to make this work - right now there are issue on the continents themselves t…

Exactly such a project is currently being explored, while a UK-Morocco line is continuing development:

https://www.current-news.co.uk/uk-us-transatlantic-interconn...

Weirdly enough the latter is projected to cost less than the now infamous Hinkley Point C nuclear power plant.

Re: Australian government approves AAPowerLink project to export solar to Singapore

#35

Post by chii »

snoxy wrote: post #20
Djdjur7373bb wrote: post #5

Does it actually make economic sense to run a cable large enough for that kind of power from Australia to Singapore? I would have guessed there must be enough domestic customers or in Indonesia that would make more sense.

Aussie politicians are too busy propping up coal and proposing unrealistic nuclear solutions to seriously focus on renewables.

> proposing unrealistic nuclear solutions to seriously focus on renewables.

they're doing unrealistic nuclear proposals, because they know it takes a long time to ramp up, and in the mean time, their buddies' investments in the coal industry gets time to exit and profit properly. It's designed to prevent losses in fossil fuel investments.

Not to mention that australian nuclear cannot be profitable imho - not when solar is so cheap. Their current proposals for nuclear basically requires taxpayer subsidies.

Re: Australian government approves AAPowerLink project to export solar to Singapore

#36

Post by tdrz »

topherhunt wrote: post #33
tdrz wrote: post #31

This sounds good! I don't know much about electricity, can anyone tell me if such an undersea power cable could be technically feasible between Europe and North America? Possibly taking a detour through Iceland which has significant geothermal resources. I understand that it would take much more than just the cable between the two continents to make this work - right now there are issue on the continents themselves t…

This is totally unresearched, but my gut says it would be much higher ROI for Europe + North America to independently source solar from their respective nearby deserts, paired with batteries?

I would hope Europe has learned a lesson not to depend on unreliable partners for its energy.

Re: Australian government approves AAPowerLink project to export solar to Singapore

#37

Post by londons_explore »

Djdjur7373bb wrote: post #5

Does it actually make economic sense to run a cable large enough for that kind of power from Australia to Singapore? I would have guessed there must be enough domestic customers or in Indonesia that would make more sense.

Power cables are getting cheaper and cheaper. The expensive part used to be the voltage conversion stations at the ends, but with mass production of MOSFETs for EV's these have now become far cheaper than the JFET's and other exotic silicon that used to be used.

In turn, that means voltages can be higher, letting one use more of the cheaper PVC or XLPE insulating material and less expensive aluminium for the same amount of energy delivered a large number of kilometers.

To be honest, I don't think we're many decades away from the cable+conversion stations themselves cost being irrelevant, and the administration costs, land purchase costs, etc dominating.

Re: Australian government approves AAPowerLink project to export solar to Singapore

#38

Post by boffinAudio »

m2f2 wrote: post #32

Significant turning tables moment when big bully China aims at being the sole APAC superpower. That might explain why Singapore are interested and why 4200km of cable aren't such a big issue.

Who do you think is manufacturing the solar panels? Certainly not Australians.

Re: Australian government approves AAPowerLink project to export solar to Singapore

#39

Post by Kuinox »

londons_explore wrote: post #37
Djdjur7373bb wrote: post #5

Does it actually make economic sense to run a cable large enough for that kind of power from Australia to Singapore? I would have guessed there must be enough domestic customers or in Indonesia that would make more sense.

Power cables are getting cheaper and cheaper. The expensive part used to be the voltage conversion stations at the ends, but with mass production of MOSFETs for EV's these have now become far cheaper than the JFET's and other exotic silicon that used to be used. In turn, that means voltages can be higher, letting one use more of the cheaper PVC or XLPE insulating material and less expensive aluminium for the same amo…

What material is made the power cable ? I thought copper was getting more and more expensive ?

Re: Australian government approves AAPowerLink project to export solar to Singapore

#40

Post by boffinAudio »

bobthepanda wrote: post #29
gonzo41 wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Data Centers, Green Steel production. Power == Opportunities. This is such a massive win for the environment.

You need water for all of that and that part of Australia is pretty arid.

Might finally provide a viable use for the Ord River catchment, though ..
Post reply on HN