The Australian Government’s Capacity Investment Scheme (CIS) has raised its capacity target from 32GW to 40GW.
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The CIS has had six oversubscribed, successful tenders launched to date. It is on track to deliver 18GW of generation and dispatchable storage projects.
“An 8GW capacity uplift will incentivise investment in projects to deliver an additional 5GW of storage and 3GW of generation by 2030. A 3GW boost to CIS generation was helped by the competitive nature of the tenders and falling costs of solar,” the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water (DCCEEW) said in a statement.
“Battery costs are also falling. An additional 5GW of storage means more backup energy to power households and businesses when needed.
“The uplift is expected to support investment of around $21 billion in storage capacity. Investments near $52 billion are expected in solar and wind technologies.”
The Capacity Investment Scheme requires constituents to bid in competitive auctions held every six months. To date, each tender has been consistently oversubscribed, proving the scheme’s popularity with renewables developers.
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The announcement follows the release of CSIRO’s 2024-25 GenCost Report, published in collaboration with the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO), which shows wind and solar generation, backed by storage and transmission, remained the lowest-cost new-build electricity generation technologies.
