Around one month after reaching financial close, the developer of the 1.5 GW Marinus Link power interconnector project in Australia has issued notices to proceed to contractors for cable and converters.
The 345-kilometer project , to be built in two 750 MW stages, will link North West Tasmania and the Latrobe Valley in Victoria, with 255 kilometers running undersea across Australia’s Bass Strait.
Marinus Link Pty Ltd (MLPL), jointly owned by the Commonwealth of Australia (49%), the State of Tasmania (17.7%) and the State of Victoria (33.3%), announced the final investment decision (FID) on August 1.
The confirmation of project financing has enabled the issuance of notices to proceed for the project’s cable and converter technology suppliers, Prysmian Powerlink and Hitachi Energy, who will now finalize engineering designs and begin pre-construction activities.
Prysmian will design, test, supply and install a HVDC cable system, consisting of 320 kV single-core cables with XLPE insulation and single-wire armouring, covering both submarine and land sections, and will also provide a fully integrated PRY-CAM permanent monitoring system.
This also comes following a record investment by the Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC), said to complete the financing requirements for Marinus Link Stage 1, which received equity commitments from the Commonwealth, Tasmania and Victoria in August.
The CEFC’s commitment is expected to be $3.8 billion ($nominal), inclusive of capitalized interest during construction. The final amount of concessional finance is subject to the regulator’s final determination on project costs.
“Marinus Link Stage 1 is now fully funded, we have key Commonwealth and Victorian environmental approvals, a draft regulatory decision and almost all major contracts in place,” said MLPL CEO Stephanie McGregor .
“Our expert team is mobilising for construction in 2026, and we are thrilled to deliver this critical national energy infrastructure, which will bolster energy security, promote renewable energy investment and deliver tangible benefits to consumers in Tasmania, Victoria and the broader National Electricity Market.”
According to MLPL, the CEFC’s long-term concessional finance, along with low-returning equity from the government shareholders, is expected to deliver $900 million in benefits to Tasmanian and Victorian electricity consumers during the first five years of the project’s operation alone, which means that the concessional finance will reduce the impact of transmission-related consumer costs by 45%.
“The ability to access the concessional loan through the CEFC enables us to deliver this critical infrastructure at the lowest possible cost to consumers,” McGregor said.
Marinus Link’s stage 1 is scheduled for completion by 2030.
The article was amended on September 4 at 08:25 a.m. to state additional information.