2022 IIO Report

AEMO Services, as the NSW Consumer Trustee, was directed by the NSW Minister for Energy to conduct a competitive tender for Long-Term Energy Services Agreements (LTESAs) for firming infrastructure.

In response to this direction and as required by the Electricity Infrastructure Investment Act 2020 (NSW) (EII Act), we produced a Firming Infrastructure Investment Objectives Report (‘Firming IIO Report’). The Firming IIO Report sets out a development pathway for firming infrastructure and key parameters of Tender Round 2 for firming infrastructure that was conducted in response to the direction. This includes:

The timing of the tender (which commenced 3 April 2023).
The indicative target capacity of firming infrastructure LTESAs of 380 MW located in the Sydney, Newcastle, Wollongong sub-region and operational by Summer 2025-26. More information on eligibility is available in Market Briefing Four.

The EII Act requires that firming infrastructure is scheduled by AEMO in its central dispatch process under the National Electricity Rules.

This report does not amend the timing or indicative size of Tender 1, currently in progress.
Tender 2, which we expect to hold in Q2 2023, will be for firming, generation and long-duration storage (LDS) with the following indicative sizes:
- Firming: 380 MW of firming infrastructure located in the Sydney-Newcastle-Wollongong sub-region
- Generation: 2,500GWh of annual generation (equivalent to 950MW)
- Long Duration Storage: Up to 600MW with the size dependent on how much storage is awarded in Tender 1. LDS tenders are planned to occur annually however there is an option to undertake a contingent tender should the need arise. In this case we are planning an LDS tender to complement the firming tender because LDS and firming infrastructure can service similar functions in terms of reliability.
There are no other changes to the generation and long-duration storage elements of the Development Pathway and 10-Year Plan from the 2021 IIO Report.
A draft 2023 IIO Report is expected to be published for consultation in early 2023.

Generation Long-Term Energy Service Agreement Size

This report sets out a 10-Year Plan for competitive tenders for built energy infrastructure to give effect to the Development Pathway. It has now been superseded by X . The updated plan remains substantially the same as that contained in the 2021 IIO Report , except for the following three changes:

A Q2 2023 tender for an indicative amount of 380 MW of firming infrastructure has been added.
A tender for long-duration storage infrastructure has been added alongside the Q2 2023 firming tender, with its indicative size contingent on the conduct of the Q4 2022 tender for long-duration storage infrastructure.
Given the passage of time since the 2021 IIO Report, the 10-Year Plan has been extended to cover 2031-2032, but no additional tenders are identified to be required in that year to give effect to the next year of the Development Pathway.