The New South Wales (NSW) government has announced a new competitive tender for long-term energy services agreements (LTESAs) for 500 MW of firming infrastructure to boost the security and reliability of its energy grid.
The tender is the seventh to be announced as part of the state’s Electricity Infrastructure Roadmap that calls for at least 12 GW of new renewable electricity generation, such as wind and solar, and 2 GW of long-duration storage by 2030.
To be conducted by ASL, formerly AEMO Services, the tender is expected to open in early Q4 2025 and will seek bids for firming capacity like batteries, virtual power plants (VPPs) and gas generators that can rapidly supply electricity to the grid or reduce the use of electricity at short notice.
ASL Chief Executive Officer Nevenka Codevelle said the priority is for projects that can be built by 2027-28 and can support the needs of the equivalent of 200,000 households in the high-load areas of Sydney, Newcastle and Wollongong.
“The announcement of this tender for firming infrastructure demonstrates the flexibility and adaptability of the NSW Electricity Infrastructure Roadmap in bringing forward additional energy capacity in response to an identified need,” she said.
“Firming infrastructure plays a crucial role in supporting the reliability of the NSW electricity system, with this tender calling on projects to come forward that can support the Sydney-Newcastle-Wollongong region by the summer of 2027-28.”
Some forecasts have suggested NSW could face shortfalls of firm capacity for the summer of 2027-28 but state Energy Minister Penny Sharpe said this tender will provide greater certainty against future reliability risks.
“We are proactively managing the risks associated with delivering multiple large-scale infrastructure projects at once, as we rebuild our energy system.”
Successful projects will join those supported in the state’s first firming tender conducted in 2023. Projects awarded LTESAs in that tender include AGL’s 500 MW Liddell battery, Akaysha Energy’s 415 MW Orana battery, Iberdrola’s 65 MW Smithfield battery, and three VPPs put together by Enel X that deliver a combined 95 MW capacity of demand response.
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