Sun Cable Project update (Feb 2023)

In Jan 2023, Sun Cable went into voluntary Administration.

Is this the end of the project, or just a hiccup? Would someone/some other entity step in and drive this project? Is Singapore out of luck?

How "out of luck" is Singapore? Did we lose any money?

Singapore bears no financial impact from collapse of Sun Cable solar project: Gan Kim Yong

06 Feb 2023

SINGAPORE: Singapore has not made any commitment to Sun Cable's flagship solar energy project and therefore bears no financial impact from the company's recent decision to enter into voluntary administration, said Trade and Industry Minister Gan Kim Yong on Monday (Feb 6).

He was responding to questions from Members of Parliament on whether Singapore made financial investments in the project, the implications of the collapse on Singapore's renewable energy targets and what considerations are in place to assess the commercial risk and implementation of such projects.

In a written parliamentary reply, Mr Gan said there are abundant renewable energy resources in the region and beyond, and "considerable interest" from companies to bring electricity into Singapore.

The Energy Market Authority (EMA) received more than 20 proposals for its ongoing Requests for Proposals exercise, with Sun Cable’s proposal being one of them.

"As part of the tender process, EMA has been clarifying our technical requirements with Sun Cable. However, Singapore has not made any commitment, financial or otherwise, into the Sun Cable project," Mr Gan said.

"Singapore therefore bears no financial impact from the recent actions taken by Sun Cable to enter into voluntary administration."

Would the project be restarted under another entity or leadership? 

Who knows? Maybe. I think it is a viable project. It just cost a lot of money, and so, there is a rather significant risk.