Australia’s two upcoming Capacity Investment Scheme (CIS) tenders will be increased to 10GW, with 4GW of dispatchable renewable power and 6GW of renewable generation.
The Capacity Investment Scheme aims to deliver an additional 32GW of capacity by 2030. This original tender for dispatchable renewable power was 2GW and while the renewable energy generation tender was 4GW.
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The CIS encourages new investment in renewable energy dispatchable capacity such as battery storage and generation such as solar and wind, providing capacity to meet our growing electricity demand and fill reliability gaps as ageing coal power stations exit the grid.
Minister for Climate Change and Energy Chris Bowen said the tender process would open in mid-November with tenders delivered by the end of 2029.
In a speech delivered in Sydney, Bowen said a previous tender under the Capacity Investment Scheme (CIS) for 600MW batteries in Victoria and South Australia had been oversubscribed, with six new projects deemed successful.
In addition, the first national auction for 6GW of variable generation saw 40GW of tender bids registered.
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“We are yet to award the winners of this auction, but I have received advice from my department that the quality of the projects is very strong,” the minister said.
“Accordingly, I am pleased to announce today that we have decided to make the next round of auctions bigger than originally envisaged to get more of these high-quality projects connected to the grid more quickly.”
