The federal government’s Capacity Investment Scheme (CIS) Tenders 5 and 6 are now open, seeking 1,600 MW of renewable energy generation and 2,400 MWh of dispatchable capacity in the Western Australia (WA) wholesale electricity market (WEM).
Projects applying to CIS Tender 5 – WEM Generation or CIS Tender 6 – WEM Dispatchable must be located in WA and connect, or intended to connect, to the South-West Interconnected System (SWIS).
In an effort to expedite application process times, tenders are no longer in two stages, but one, to reduce duration from nine months to six months.
Successful proponents will demonstrate the ability to achieve commercial operations prior to 31 December 2030 and will be required to publicly report on key labour and workforce arrangements, including subcontractors, on issues such as the proportion of FIFO workers relative to local employees.
If not successful, meritorious applicants may be included on a new reserve list for future tender rounds.
Image: Australian Government
Other tenders currently in progress include CIS Tender 3 – National Electricity Market (NEM) dispatchable capacity aiming to deliver 4 GW of four-hour equivalent dispatchable capacity, or 16 GWh of projects in the NEM.
This and the following tender were the first to include First Nations merit criteria. Successful bids are scheduled to be announced in September 2025.
CIS Tender 4 – NEM generation bids closed in February 2025 and aims to deliver 6 GW of renewable generation capacity in the NEM, with October the target to announce successful bidders.
In July 2025, the federal government announced an increase to the CIS capacity target to 40 GW, with an additional 5 GW of clean dispatchable energy and 3 GW of generation to be delivered by 2030.
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