Four projects backed by 2023 NSW firming tender achieve 3 GWh milestone

Four projects awarded New South Wales (NSW) Electricity Infrastructure Roadmap (EIR) firming infrastructure 2023 tenders, are now operational, marking a milestone that delivers 1 GW / 3 GWh dispatchable, on-demand firming capacity to the state.

The NSW EIR Tender 2 awarded Long-Term Energy Service Agreements (LTESAs) to Iberdrola’s 65 MW / 130 MWh Smithfield battery energy storage system (BESS), Akaysha Energy’s 415 MW / 1.6 GWh Orana BESS, AGL’s 500 MW / 1 GWh Liddell BESS, and Enel X’s three 50 MW, 20 MW and 25 MW separate virtual power plants (VPPs).

The Liddell BESS is part of the Hunter Energy Hub, and is located at the former Liddell coal-fired power station on the shores of Lake Liddell, 225 kilometres north of Sydney.

The Orana BESS is located in the Central-West Orana Renewable Energy Zone (REZ), two kilometres northeast of Wellington, and approximately 360 kilometres northwest of Sydney.

Iberdrola’s Smithfield BESS is in an industrial suburb of Smithfield, approximately 30 kilometres west of Sydney’s CBD.

The Exel X VPPs operate across the NSW east coast, spanning greater Sydney, the Central Coast, Newcastle, and the Illawarra/Wollongong region.

Combined, the dispatchable, on-demand firming capacity is equivalent to approximately 8% of the total FY 2026 NSW summer peak demand, supporting grid reliability as ageing coal generation exits the system, and future demand increases.

NSW EIR Tenders

Overseen by Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) Services Limited (ASL), approximately 30 GWh of long duration storage capacity since the NSW EIR tenders opened in April 2023, have been contracted. 

Tender 2 sought at least 380 MW of firming infrastructgure and demand response from the market, but was expanded to 930 MW with the federal government supporting up to an additional 55 MW through the Capacity Investment Scheme (CIS).

ASL Chief Executive Officer Nevenka Codevelle said ASL’s Firming LTESA has played two important roles in Tender 2.

“First by providing revenue certainty through options to access top-up payments and second by requiring these projects to be available for at least 90% of the year, and to respond to critical Lack of Reserve events,” Codevelle said.

“Beyond the initial suite of firming projects, we’re also seeing good progress on generation and long-duration storage projects, with projects proceeding to construction and operation. NSW is also a global leader for minimum 8-hour battery storage assets.”

More than half of the projects awarded LTESAs through six NSW EIR tenders are now operational or under construction, and others advancing through key development milestones.

ASL is currently conducting tenders for an indicative target of 2.5 GW of generation infrastructure and a further 12 GWh of long-duration storage infrastructure.

A further generation tender, and an additional firming infrastructure tender are expected to commence in Q4 2026 and Q1 2027, respectively.