The Australian government on Wednesday announced 19 successful renewable energy projects that will bring 6.4 GW to the National Electricity Market (NEM).
Solar panels in New South Wales. Image by NSW Department of Planning and Environment (www.planning.nsw.gov.au/).
The projects were selected under the first national tender process as part of the Capacity Investment Scheme (CIS), a revenue underwriting initiative. They represent a mixture of solar and wind technologies, as well as hybrid schemes with batteries.
The CIS Tender 1 was launched in May and sought 6 GW of renewable electricity generation. It attracted 84 bids pointing to a strong renewable project pipeline in the country, the government said. Unsuccessful bidders are encouraged to participate in future CIS tenders. Currently, bids are being submitted for the third and fourth tender rounds of the scheme.
Projects of developers including Lightsource BP, Neoen Australia, Elgin Energy and Edify Energy were successful in the tender. The full list can be seen in the government’s announcement.
“The former Coalition Government ignored the experts and refused to take advantage of our abundant sun and wind, leaving households paying the price of having a grid that’s too reliant on expensive, unreliable, ageing coal and exposed to international price shocks,” said Minister for Climate Change and Energy Chris Bowen.
“The Albanese Labor Government is delivering Australian households and businesses an energy system that is lowest cost, more reliable and better equipped to power Australian homes and businesses now and into the future”.
Renewables Now