SunCable
The business, the turning points, and the decisions behind them.
01 / WHAT IT BUILT
What the company did
SunCable (formerly Sun Cable) is the developer of the Australia-Asia PowerLink (AAPowerLink) - one of the world's largest renewable energy projects: a 17-20 GW solar farm with 36-42 GWh of battery storage in Australia's Northern Territory, linked to Darwin and ultimately Singapore by a 4,300-5,000 km subsea cable. Founded in 2018 and backed by Australian billionaires Mike Cannon-Brookes (Atlassian co-founder) and Andrew 'Twiggy' Forrest, the company raised A$210 million from the two in 2022. In January 2023 it entered voluntary administration after the backers failed to agree on funding; Cannon-Brookes's Grok Ventures bought the company out of administration in mid-2023 and relaunched it as SunCable. In November 2025 it signed a landmark 70-year land deal with traditional owners for the 12,000-hectare Powell Creek solar precinct, targeting a final investment decision in 2027.
02 / SunCable FAILURE REASONS
Failure reasons
SunCable's 2023 collapse was a billionaire falling-out, not a technology failure. The two backers disagreed on the future direction: Cannon-Brookes wanted to proceed with the Singapore undersea cable and export bulk power; Forrest was unconvinced of the cable's commercial viability and wanted to focus on renewable power for green hydrogen and local industry. After a missed project milestone in September 2022, not all of the A$210 million raised became available, and 'consensus on the future direction and funding structure of the company could not be achieved' - so the company appointed voluntary administrators (FTI Consulting) in January 2023.
03 / EVENT HISTORY
Events in the structured record
- Asset restructuring
Sun Cable entered voluntary administration in January after its principal shareholders failed to agree on further funding. A Grok Ventures-led consortium acquired the company later in 2023.
04 / CONTEMPORARY REBUILD ASSESSMENT
Difficulty of rebuilding this project today
Material for this section is being gathered and checked. It will appear here once ready.
Overall assessment: Not completed
05 / CAUSAL CHAIN
How the factors connect
- 01
In January 2023 Sun Cable appointed voluntary administrators (FTI Consulting), Australia's closest equivalent to Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
- 02
In May 2023 a consortium led by Grok Ventures (Cannon-Brookes's investment vehicle) with Quinbrook won the bidding and acquired all of Sun Cable's assets via an asset sale agreement; the purchase was completed in September 2023.
- 03
Forrest's private companies did not lodge a final bid; he planned his own 20GW renewable pipeline via Squadron Energy.
- 04
The restructured SunCable continues developing AAPowerLink (now scaled toward ~3GW of 'firmed' renewables); in November 2025 it signed the 70-year Powell Creek land agreement and targets FID in 2027.