Other Big Projects

Connecting Australia to China to provide clean energy and reduce global greenhouse gas emissions would be a huge job. However, there are also other huge infrastructure projects now under consideration around the world. Looking at some of these can provide perspective.

Iceland/UK HVDC

Iceland is a scenic Artic Circle wonderland powered largely by geothermal energy. WIth a population of only 200,000, the country has more geothermal energy than its population can consume, so the government has worked hard to attract electricity-heavy industry such as aluminum smelters.

Now, the country is proposing exporting some of its geothermal energy to the UK over an 1100MW, 1,200 kilometer-long subsea High Voltage Direct Current power line system landing in Northern Scotland. All up, the system could transfer 8 Twhs per year. Some believe it could be cheaper to ship the energy via battery-carrying ships between Iceland and Scotland. Much will depend, of course, on the speed of innovation in the respective industries of batteries and high voltage cables.

Iceland is proposing exporting geothermal power to the UK

Source: DESERTEC-Australia

Algeria/Germany HVDC

New Energy Algeria, a company half owned by Algeria state energy company Sonatrach, is proposing a nearly 3,000-kilometer long High Voltage Direct Current power line from the southern Algerian city of Adrar to the northern German city of Aachen to carry concentrating solar power generated from the Algeria desert. At present, two concentrating solar power plants are planned for Algeria. Sonatrach and partners are currently building a 150MW solar gas hybrid power plant in the Saharan town of Hassi R'Mel as a precursor to ramping up much larger projects along the HVDC backbone.

The 3,000 km Adrar-Aachen HVDC cable would provide solar energy to Germany	The location of the Adrar solar plant so far south in Algeria indicates HVDC cable costs are not the primary cost criteria
Source: DESERTEC-Australia

Siberia/Canada Rail/HVDC

Called TKM-WorldLink, a $65 billion project has been proposed to link Russia's resource rich Siberia to North America through a combined rail line and High Voltage Direct Current power line. The aim, of course, is to boost East-West trade.

TKM Worldlink would include 2,500 kilometers of rail line on the Siberian side, 2,000 kilometers of rail line on the North American side joined by a roughly 100-kilometer strech of tunnel under the Bering Strait. The High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) power lines that would run alongside the rail lines would have a capacity of roughly 15GW, and could carry Russian hydro and wave power to urban markets in North America. Backers estimate the plan could save Russia and the United States US$20 billion a year through lower electricity costs.

TKM-Worldlink would join Siberia and North America by a massive US$65 billion rail line/HVDC cable

Source: DESERTEC-Australia

'Iron Boomerang'

This A$49 billion, 3,300 km rail and steel project envisages building a railway line between Bowen, Queensland and Port Hedland, Western Australia with steel-making plants at either end. The idea is to create and reap huge economies in the production and transport of steel in Australia.

'Iron Boomerang' proposes a 3,300 km northern Queensland/WA rail line to serve the steel industry.

Source: DESERTEC-Australia

South to North Water Transfer Project

China is desperate for water just like it's desperate for power. Given this, the $65 billion "South to North Water Transfer Project," if eventually built in its entirety, will surpass the Three Gorges Dam project in terms of cost. The idea behind is to take more plentiful water in the central part of the country and pump it to the northern cities.

The project was begun on Dec. 27, 2002. It is expected to take 50 years to complete and cost US $59 billion. It involves building three canals running 1,300 kilometers across the eastern, middle and western parts of China, linking the country's four major rivers -- the Yangtze, Yellow, Huaihe and Haihe.

At $65 billion, the "South to North Water Transfer Project" could cost up to three times what the Three Gorges Dam cost

Bakun Hydro Project: Malaysia

Roughly 70% of the electricity produced from the proposed 2,400MW Bakun Hydro project in Malaysian Sarawak is to be carried 670 kilometers by undersea HVDC cable across the South China Sea to peninsular Malaysia. The project would also entail laying 730 kilometers of HVDC cable on land in Sarawak and 300 kilometers in Peninsular Malaysia.

That would make a combined distance of roughly 1,700 kilometers. Furthermore, it would traverse the South China Sea right where a proposed Australian/Southeast Asian HVDC cable might pass.

Power from the proposed Bakun hydro project in Malaysian Sarawak would be carried 1,700-km over land and sea HVDC cables to peninsular Malaysia

Source: International Rivers Network

Additional Reading:

Bakun announcement leaves questions unanswered
Bakun Dam, Wikipedia