Australia has invited bids to set up 4 GW /16 GWh of dispatchable energy storage capacity in the National Electricity Market (NEM).

Bids must be submitted by February 6, 2026. Successful bids will be announced in June 2026.

In contrast to the Capacity Investment Scheme (CIS) tenders, which focus purely on renewable generation, this tender is specifically for dispatchable storage projects.

Bidders must propose projects that store electricity by importing power from the NEM grid, an eligible renewable energy source under the Renewable Energy (Electricity) Act, or a mix of both.

Projects must be located in participating NEM jurisdictions.

Standalone projects must offer at least 30 MW of registered capacity and demonstrate a minimum storage duration of two hours at commercial operation.

A key feature of the tender is aggregated bidding, which allows multiple smaller dispatchable components, each between 5 MW and 30 MW and meeting the two-hour duration rule, to be bundled into a single bid, provided all components sit within the same NEM region.

Bidders must show a credible pathway to reach commercial operations before December 31, 2030, with projects targeting earlier commissioning expected to score better in the tender assessment.

The CIS aims to develop renewable generation and firming projects to deliver cheaper, cleaner, and more reliable energy to homes and businesses as coal is phased out. Through this program, the Australian government plans to deliver 82% of the nation’s renewable energy capacity, or 40 GW, by 2030.

Recently,  Australia has invited bids for 5 GW of renewable energy projects in the NEM as part of the seventh tender under the CIS.

In August, the Australian government floated the fifth and sixth tenders for 1,600 MW of renewable energy and 2,400 MWh of energy storage capacity, respectively, in Western Australia as part of the CIS program. The storage projects must use grid or renewable energy.

Earlier, Australia announced the results of the fourth auction under CIS. A total of 20 projects were selected, delivering 6,640 MW of renewable energy, compared to the 6,000 MW originally planned. Twelve of these projects include battery storage alongside wind or solar capacity, totaling 3,509 MW/11,444 MWh.