The energy firm SunCable has lodged plans to build what it describes as a “possibly unparalleled” solar and battery precinct near Muckaty Station in the Northern Territory, capable of generating up to twenty gigawatts of electricity—roughly ten times the output of a typical large coal-fired power station.

The company says the development is intended to power an emerging AI datacentre cluster in the region and reinforce Australia’s position as a leader in green industrial development.

The site is located in the Barkly region, about eight hundred and seventy kilometres south of Darwin, and the area under investigation spans approximately fifty thousand hectares, though SunCable emphasises that the actual cleared footprint will be refined through consultation with traditional owners and environmental studies.

The proposed solar array is in addition to the firm’s existing plans for a twelve-thousand-hectare solar farm at Powell Creek Station, which is part of its Australia-Asia Power Link project.

Chief executive Ryan Willemsen‑Bell said the combined Northern Territory developments offered “a compelling proposition to attract global investment in an AI datacentre precinct”.

He noted that SunCable had been in discussions for the past eighteen months with “global hyperscalers”—large operators of cloud and AI infrastructure—seeking access to “low-cost, low-carbon energy solutions”.

A company spokesperson indicated the first datacentre operations in the Barkly region could begin by 2028, and then scale up to support increasing next-generation AI infrastructure demands in subsequent years.

The scale of the project has drawn scrutiny from Environment Centre NT (ECNT), the Northern Territory’s peak environmental organisation, which described the plan as “simply gobsmacking and is possibly unparalleled in Australia, or for that matter the world”.

The ECNT flagged concerns over the potential clearing of significant habitat for the endangered greater bilby, with official survey documents indicating multiple confirmed bilby sites across the proposed area of interest.

Water resources in the arid region, it added, could also face stress.

SunCable’s referral documents to the Northern Territory Environment Protection Authority (NT EPA) state the company “is committed to refining the footprint” to avoid direct impact on occupied bilby sites and to conduct further studies in consultation with traditional owners.

The land in question falls within the Muckaty Aboriginal Land Trust, and SunCable has emphasised its intention to engage with traditional owners, landholders and stakeholders throughout feasibility and environmental assessment phases.

Energy analysts point to underlying questions around the timing and substance of datacentre demand.

One systems researcher at University of New South Wales observed that while large-scale demand for data-centre power is real, how much of it will materialise in this timeframe remains uncertain.

From SunCable’s perspective, the modular build-out of solar blocks and battery storage is designed to match off-take agreements with infrastructure customers and to deliver credible early-stage capacity before expanding to full scale.

If approved and built, the Muckaty development would plug into SunCable’s broader vision of the Australia-Asia Power Link, utilising transmission infrastructure capable of sending power both to regional industrial users and potentially to export markets beyond Australia.

For the Northern Territory and Australia, the project represents a major commitment to renewable energy, digital infrastructure and the ambitions of Asia-Pacific industrial leadership.

The next milestone will be the NT EPA’s public review, which has opened for comment, and SunCable’s refinement of its generation footprint ahead of investment decisions later in the decade.