The next round of the Australian government’s Capacity Investment Scheme (CIS) is officially open, providing renewable energy project developers with the opportunity to register and bid for underwriting contracts for generation projects in the National Electricity Market (NEM).
CIS Tender 9 – NEM Generation is seeking an indicative target of 5 GW of renewable energy generation capacity and will be open to all NEM jurisdictions except New South Wales (NSW), where proponents can participate in the re-started NSW Roadmap generation tenders.
AusEnergy Services Limited (ASL), which is delivering CIS Tender 9 on behalf of the federal government, said allocations for the 5 MW total targeted include 300 MW generation target for Tasmania and 1.6 GW for Victoria where a 470 MW capacity limit on solar-only projects will apply following a request by the state government.
The remaining 3.1 GW capacity is yet to be allocated but could potentially be awarded to projects in Queensland or South Australia.
CIS Tender 9 also includes a dedicated 500 MW capacity allocation for projects that commit to implementing First Nations equity and/or revenue sharing arrangements. To qualify, proponents must demonstrate commitments with First Nations partners equivalent to at least 5% equity participation and/or revenue.
According to the tender guidelines, the tender is open to renewable power generation projects with an installed capacity of at least 30 MW and able to show a credible pathway to achieving commercial operations before the end of 2030.
Registrations for CIS Tender 9 close on 6 July 2026 with bids to close later that month. Successful bids are expected to be announced in November 2026.
The launch of CIS Tender 9 coincides with the announcement of the results of Tender 7 under the federal program that aims to deliver 26 GW of renewable generation capacity and 14 GW of clean dispatchable capacity by 2030.
To date the CIS has revenue underwriting agreements to 74 solar, wind and energy storage projects, totalling 24.93 GW of generation capacity and 34.67 GWh storage capacity.
The CIS has also underwritten a further 14 renewable energy projects totalling 1.9 GW of generation and 8.378 GWh of storage in the separate Western Australia market.
The outcomes of CIS Tender 8, which is seeking 4 GW of dispatchable capacity in the NEM, are expected to be announced next month.
Tender 10 – NEM Dispatchable Capacity is expected to open next month.
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