Through the CIS, the Australian Government seeks to deliver a target of 32 GW of new capacity nationally, made up of:
- 23 GW of renewable generation
- 9 GW of dispatchable capacity (4-hour equivalent)
CIS auctions for both generation and dispatchable capacity projects are expected to be held approximately every 6 – months in the NEM (National Electricity Market) and around every 12 months in the WEM (Wholesale Electricity Market) until 2027.
This additional capacity is expected to:
- Help deliver the Australian Government’s 82% renewable electricity by 2030 target.
- Contribute to filling expected reliability gaps as ageing coal-fired power stations retire and electricity demand grows.
- Place downward pressure on electricity prices.
Renewable Energy Transformation Agreements (RETAs) are agreements between the Australian government and state and territory governments (jurisdictions). These agreements assist in achieving shared objectives in the renewable energy transformation.
The Australian Government has released a RETA Market Brief. The brief provides information on CIS capacity allocations to jurisdictions, as agreed through RETA negotiations.
AEMO and AEMO Services are engaged to support the roll-out of the CIS as tender delivery partner, bringing together our expertise in energy market design, management and tender procurement.
We administer the competitive tender process, including recommending bids to the Australian Government. The Minister for Climate Change and Energy is the ultimate decision-maker.
CIS tenders follow a merit-based two stage application and assessment process, including a strong weighting on community and First Nations engagement and social licence commitments, deliverability and benefit to system reliability.
Additional due diligence is also undertaken on potential projects ahead of them being recommended to the Australian Government.
Each CIS Tender has different requirements.
Prospective proponents considering participating in a CIS tender should read the tender documents located on the relevant CIS Tender page. You can find a list of our CIS tenders here.
The Tender Guidelines are a comprehensive resource containing the necessary information for proponents to participate.
Reading additional information from previous tenders including Market Briefs on merit criteria requirements and tender assessment outcomes, can also assist proponents.
We strongly encourage proponents who have been unsuccessful in previous tenders to reapply for future CIS tenders. The information provided in the briefs linked below may help improve future bids.
CIS NEM Dispatchable Capacity tenders
CIS SA-VIC Tender
- CIS SA-VIC Stage A Market Debriefing Note – This Briefing note provides a generalised assessment summary of the Project Bid stage (Stage A) of the CIS South Australia-Victoria Tender.
CIS Tender 3 – NEM Dispatchable
- First Nations and Social Licence Market Brief – This brief provides additional information to assist proponents in preparing quality Bids that address the First Nations and Social Licence Criteria, being Merit Criterion 4, Merit Criterion 5, Merit Criterion 8 and Merit Criterion 9.
CIS NEM Generation tenders
CIS Tender 1 – NEM Generation
- CIS NEM Generation MC5 Market Briefing – provides further guidance on the assessment of Merit Criteria 5 – Financial Value.
- Stage A Assessment Outcomes Market Briefing – provides a generalised assessment summary on the Project Bid stage (Stage A) of the Tender.
CIS WEM Dispatchable Capacity tenders
CIS Tender 2 – WEM Dispatchable
- Evaluation of WEM Tender 2 Merit Criteria 4 – Financial Value and Capacity Credits – provides guidance on the evaluation of Merit Criteria 4 – Financial Value and Capacity Credits in the Tender.
View our tenders to learn more about past and current CIS tenders.
To ensure you don’t miss any Tender specific announcements, updates or information, please submit the subscription form below to receive AEMO Service’s Tender updates.
For non-tender specific information on the CIS including sector news and policy updates, visit the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water.