Atlassian co-founder Mike Cannon-Brookes' private investment company is pursuing opportunities to develop renewable energy in the Northern Territory as it looks to tap the region's abundant sunshine and proximity to key Asian markets.

The territory has the makings to become a world leader in clean energy generation and export, said Jeremy Kwong-Law, investment manager at the tech billionaire's Grok Ventures. He highlighted that hydrogen and solar power transmission via subsea cable were the two clearest pathways to tap the huge Asian market.

"I'm hoping that within five years we'll be shipping electrons at serious scale. That's definitely do-able," Kwong-Law said by phone from Darwin.

Atlassian co-founder Mike Cannon-Brookes is an outspoken backer of renewable energy. Credit:Steven Siewert

Cannon-Brookes - who was ranked sixth on the Australian Financial Review Rich List for 2019 - has emerged as a prominent advocate for clean energy and in 2017 famously challenged Tesla founder Elon Musk to build the world's largest lithium battery in South Australia.