AEMO Services has shortlisted 16 projects representing more than 4.3GW of generation and long duration storage to proceed to the next stage in the inaugural competitive tender of the NSW Electricity Infrastructure Roadmap.
This capacity is enough to power almost 1.6 million homes and will accelerate NSW’s energy transition.
In its role as Consumer Trustee, AEMO Services is responsible for conducting the decade-long schedule of competitive tenders that will bring forward investment in renewable energy generation and storage capacity.
AEMO Services Chair Dr Paul Moy said that the selected projects have been identified as those currently best placed to support the NSW electricity transition and will now proceed to a financial value assessment.
This assessment will identify the projects that meet the criteria of being in the long-term financial interests of NSW electricity consumers.
Dr Moy continued: “A key part of our task as Consumer Trustee is ensuring that the most promising projects, in terms of quality and efficiency, receive support to bring new energy infrastructure to market sooner than would otherwise have been the case.
“AEMO Services has rigorously and independently assessed each of these projects against a set of criteria covering a wide range of factors including technical capability, deliverability and social licence.
“We are pleased with the selected shortlist and encouraged by the pipeline of projects that will compete in future tenders.”
Dr Moy said that the robust interest in this first competitive tender for generation and long duration storage demonstrated the value of the investment opportunities available under the Roadmap.
He added: “We expect competition to intensify over time as the Renewable Energy Zones are developed, and as the market continues to deliver new solutions to the energy transition.”
AEMO Services Executive General Manager Paul Verschuer said that shortlisted projects would now have to demonstrate long-term financial value.
Mr Verschuer said: “We know that most energy incentive schemes around the world achieve their energy goals, but sometimes at a significant cost to consumers and government.
“We take a different approach and will only recommend projects that are in the long-term financial interests of NSW electricity consumers.
“Those projects which clear this financial value assessment will be recommended for Long-Term Energy Service Agreements (LTESAs) to support market entry.
“We expect proponents to bid aggressively, recognising the value of the investment opportunities presented by the Roadmap and the unique features of our LTESA contract.”
Short-listed projects are invited to submit their financial value bids by 10 February 2023.
Mr Verschuer said that unsuccessful projects from the current tender round would have the opportunity participate in future rounds.
“We’ve designed the process to facilitate repeated applications at minimum cost to project proponents, and those projects now have the chance to update and improve their bids for the next tender round, scheduled to take place in around six months’ time.”
