Australia Set To Launch ‘Largest Single Ever’ RE Tender

• Australia has announced plans to launch a 6 GW renewable energy tender in May 2024 
• Under this tender, at least 2.2 GW capacity will be reserved for New South Wales 
• It is part of the government's plans to tender 32 GW dispatchable and variable capacity by 2030 

Come May 2024, the Australian government will launch what it says will be the largest single tender ever for renewable energy in the country with 6 GW capacity. A minimum of 2.2 GW of this will be reserved for New South Wales (NSW) and 300 MW for South Australia. 

The tender will be launched in late May this year to procure this new variable renewable energy capacity for the National Electricity Market (NEM). A market briefing will be released in early May 2024 outlining the tender process, followed by tender rounds in the NEM approximately every 6 months until 2027. 

The initial round of tenders for Western Australian projects is scheduled to open mid-year for 500 MW of dispatchable power through storage for renewables. 

This will be the 1st tender out of 32 GW of dispatchable and variable capacity the federal government plans to auction under the Capacity Investment Scheme (CIS), to achieve its 82% renewables goal by 2030 (see Australia Announces Plans To Auction 32 GW RE Capacity). 

"We are getting on with the job of delivering practical solutions to keep the lights on for households and businesses using the cheapest, cleanest form of power – reliable renewable energy," said Australian Minister for Climate Change and Energy Chris Bowen. "Our plan is delivering the certainty and confidence the market needs to deliver the energy we need, when we need it." 

The biggest beneficiary of the federal tender, NSW will go ahead with its Long-Term Energy Service Agreements (LTESA) tender for long-duration storage infrastructure, and auction to award access rights for the Central West Orana and South-West Renewable Energy Zones (REZ), scheduled for Q2/2024. 

However, the inclusion of NSW projects in the 1st CIS federal tender will replace this Q2/2024 LTESA tender under the state's roadmap. 

The Clean Energy Council (CEC) called the announcement one of the most significant policy commitments to renewable energy in Australia's history.  

"Clean energy investors are pleased to see this progress, with commencement of the process that will ultimately allow projects to secure the revenue certainty required for the enormous wave of renewable energy projects necessary for Australia," said CEC's Acting Chief Executive Arron Wood. 

The Anthony Albanese government recently announced a dedicated solar funding program at the federal level to support domestic solar PV manufacturing, calling it Solar Sunshot (see Australia Announces AUD 1 Billion For Solar Program).