6GW! Australia's 'largest ever' renewable energy tender

The Australian government will launch a 6GW renewable energy tender next month under its expanded Capacity Investment Plan (CIS). It will be the largest single renewable energy tender in the country's history.

The tender, which will be held in late May, will include around 2.2GW of dedicated capacity for projects in New South Wales under its Reliable Renewable Energy Plan. South Australia will also guarantee at least 300MW of capacity.

The Albanese government announced the expansion of the CIS in November 2023, aiming to guarantee 32GW of renewable energy generation and storage capacity.

In this latest announcement, the office of Climate Change and Energy Minister Chris Bowen said the Albanese Government and the New South Wales Government would work together to advance the "CIS and NSW Roadmap to a Single Consolidated Tender Process”.

The statement also said there would be a 500MW capacity tender for projects in Western Australia, expected to open "mid-year", subject to negotiations and final agreement. The first CIS auction in Victoria and South Australia opened in December last year, seeking dispatchable renewable energy generation and storage capacity of up to 600MW/2,400MWh.

A technical breakdown of the capacity available in the tender was not disclosed, other than to say it would seek "variable renewable energy projects" - mainly solar and wind - "for use in the National Electricity Market (NEM)".

Bowen said: “The rain doesn't always come as frequently, but we always have access to water because we store it for emergencies – and the same goes for our energy plan with reliable renewable energy. ”

"Our plan is to provide the market with the certainty and confidence it needs at a time when we need energy."

Australia's large-scale solar market started to falter last year, with Clean Energy Council (CEC) data showing just six new large-scale projects achieved financial close in the first nine months of 2023. PV Tech Power analyzed the situation in its Q4 2023 report.

As well as supporting deployment, earlier this month the government announced a plan to support domestic solar and clean energy manufacturing - what the Australian Prime Minister called "a new competitive arena in international relations".