Capacity Investment Scheme

On 23 November 2023, the Australian Government announced an expansion of the Capacity Investment scheme (CIS) to target 9 GW of clean dispatchable capacity and 23 GW of variable capacity nationally – for a total of 32 GW nationally.

The CIS provides a national framework to encourage new investment that will:

support reliability in Australia’s rapidly changing energy market
support our energy system to reach 82 per cent renewables by 2030.

The CIS involves seeking competitive tender bids for renewable energy generation and clean dispatchable capacity projects that can fill expected reliability gaps.

The Australian Government will provide revenue support for the selected CIS projects, with an agreed revenue ‘floor’ and ‘ceiling’. This will provide a long-term revenue safety-net that decreases financial risks for investors and encourages more investment when and where it is needed.

First stage of the CIS

The first stage of the CIS was launched in 2023 and includes a:

Commonwealth/NSW tender in partnership with the NSW Electricity Infrastructure Roadmap
Tender in South Australia and Victoria.

NSW tender

On 22 November 2023, results for the NSW tender were announced with six successful bids for major energy projects totalling 1,075 MW of reliable capacity. This includes one 4-hour storage capacity battery, two 2-hour storage capacity batteries and three virtual power plants of 2-hour storage capacity.

South Australia-Victoria tender

The CIS South Australia-Victoria tender is seeking bids for up to 600 MW of 4‑hour equivalent (or 2,400 MWh) of dispatchable renewable generation and storage. The tender will open for bids in December 2023.

Projects must be located in South Australia or Victoria and have a minimum storage duration of 2 hours and a minimum size of 30 MW.

To register for the South Australia and Victoria CIS tender, complete the registration form.

The Draft Term Sheet provides more detail on the specific terms that are expected to be included in the final CISA that will be executed between the Australian Government and successful proponents. Consultation on the Draft Term Sheet closed on 10 October 2023.

Market brief on South Australia-Victoria tender

A market brief (DOCX 1.97 MB) has been published to provide an overview of the CIS South Australia-Victoria tender. This includes timing, application and assessment process, as well as proposed eligibility and merit criteria.

Feedback can be provided on the market brief to CapacityInvestmentScheme@dcceew.gov.au by 28 November 2023.