The Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) has invited bids to procure 2,500 GWh per annum (950 MW) of renewable generation capacity and 550 MW of long-duration storage under the New South Wales (NSW) Electricity Infrastructure Roadmap’s third tender round.

The last date to submit the bids is June 25, 2023.

Bidders seeking to participate in the tender round must enter into a deed to govern the terms of engagement during the tendering process.

The tender is open to all projects that meet the eligibility criteria of being in the NSW region to maximize market participation in each tender round, including new market participants in subsequent tender rounds that have not previously participated in earlier rounds.

To be eligible, the projects must involve generation from a renewable energy project and have a generation capacity of not less than 30 MW.

For storage capacity, the projects must consist of storage units with registered capacity that can be dispatched for at least eight hours.

The projects must be registered with AEMO for the central dispatch process under the National Electricity Rules in relation to the NSW region.

Further, bidders must have a receipt of a connection agreement or a network service provider response to a connection inquiry.

Also, the project must not be impacted by an order served on a relevant operator prohibiting connection to the relevant network infrastructure.

Bidders must demonstrate their progress towards reaching financial closure and the commercial operation date and their financial capacity to support the project’s development, construction, and operation.

They should demonstrate a clear understanding of any impacts of the project on the community, plus a tailored approach to minimize and offset any impacts of the relevant electricity infrastructure through engagement with local communities and stakeholders that is generally consistent with applicable NSW government guidelines to foster local community support.

Also, the successful bidder should share financial benefits during construction and operation with local communities and stakeholders.

Australia’s renewable energy industry completed 20 large-scale projects, adding 2,257 MW of new capacity in 2022, 23.6% lower than in 2021, according to the Clean Energy Council. The capacity addition declined primarily due to the COVID-19 pandemic, supply chain disruptions, and regulatory uncertainties.

Earlier, AEMO had received bids for over 8 GW of wind, solar, and long-duration storage projects in the first round of the inaugural tendering process of the NSW Electricity Infrastructure Roadmap. Of the total capacity, AEMO had received bids for over 5.5 GW of wind and solar and 2.5 GW of long-duration storage projects, which will power approximately 2.4 million NSW households.