Capacity Investment Scheme NEM Dispatchable

About the Tender

Tender 3 is a competitive process to secure dispatchable capacity in the National Electricity Market (NEM).

The Tender is seeking an indicative target of 4 GW of four-hour equivalent dispatchable capacity, or 16 GWh of dispatchable capacity, that will be operational before 31 December 2029.

Projects with a minimum storage duration of two hours, and a minimum size of 30 MW are expected to be eligible.

You must register before 5pm AEDT 11 December 2024 to bid in Tender 3. Project bids close at 5pm AEDT 18 December 2024.

Renewable Energy Transformation Agreement (RETA) allocations

The Australian Government has released a Market Brief on Renewable Energy Transformation Agreement allocations by jurisdiction.

The brief provides information on CIS capacity allocations by jurisdictions, agreed through RETA negotiations. Proponents should read this brief to understand CIS allocations, including dispatchable capacity allocations by jurisdictions for CIS Tender 3.

Tender Guidelines

Read the Tender Guidelines and draft Capacity Investment Scheme Agreement (CISA) for complete information on the process and criteria for Tender 3.

First Nations and Social Licence Market Brief

The First Nations and Social Licence Market Briefing Note 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.

The Australian Government has a strong expectation that, as the energy transition develops, genuine and long-lasting economic and social partnerships must emerge between industry and communities to better support and seize the opportunities of a net-zero economy.

Projects assessed as low merit against any individual Merit Criterion, including the First Nations commitments and social licence commitments, may be excluded from further assessment and not advance to Stage B of the Tender process.

CIS T3 webinar details

We recommend proponents attend the Tender 3 webinar. This is an opportunity to hear about the differences between Tender 3 and previous tenders and learn more about the tender process, Tender Guidelines and First Nations and Social Licence Market Brief.

• Date: 18 November 2024
• Time: 1.00pm – 2.30pm AEDT

Please click here to register for the tender webinar.

Attendees will have the opportunity to ask questions.

For those unable to attend, a recording of the webinar will be made available on this page.

Q&A process for proponents

Registered proponents are able to submit questions during the tender Q&A process, through the Online Portal. For any general enquiries on the tender process please contact cis-tender-3@aemoservices.com.au.

Future Tenders

Please note that the Market Brief for CIS Tender 4 is expected to be available in late November 2024, with the Tender opening shortly thereafter. Information for this Tender will be hosted on a CIS Tender 4 page on the AEMO Services website.

About AEMO and AEMO Services’ Role

AEMO and AEMO Services have been engaged to support the roll-out of the Australian Government’s Capacity Investment Scheme (CIS) as tender delivery partner, bringing together our expertise in energy markets, modelling and infrastructure finance and procurement. AEMO Services is conducting the competitive tender process that will enable the Australian Government to determine which projects the scheme should support.

Our work will help the Australian Government secure reliability and security in energy supply for households and businesses across Australia. We will conduct a two-stage tender process, assessing overall project merit including social licence and financial value. The Australian Government Minister for Climate Change and Energy is the ultimate decision-maker, with a short-list of projects recommended to the Australian Government for final approval.