Australia's CIS Western Australia 1.8GW Renewable Energy Tender Opens August 27

en.Wedoany.com Reported - The Australian Government has launched a new round of tendering under the Capacity Investment Scheme (CIS), targeting generation projects in Western Australia's Wholesale Electricity Market (WEM), opening registration and bidding to renewable energy developers to secure Commonwealth underwriting contracts. This 11th round of tendering targets approximately 1.8GW of renewable energy generation capacity, with supported projects expected to be operational by 2030. Tender registration is now open, with bids accepted from August 27, and the tender guidelines were also released on the same day.

This tender is the first CIS tender to require participation in the "Developer Rating Scheme" (DRS). Operated independently by data, analytics, and technology company Equifax, the DRS aims to provide landowners and local communities with greater transparency into the track records, capabilities, and conduct of renewable energy developers and transmission companies, assessing dimensions including community engagement, commercial capability, and financial capacity; developers intending to participate in Round 11 bidding must first initiate the DRS assessment process. Australian Minister for Climate Change and Energy Chris Bowen stated that economic and population growth in Western Australia is driving up electricity demand, and the additional 1.8GW of generation capacity in this round will be used to meet that demand; the tender also raises the bar for developers, requiring applicants to demonstrate that they take cooperation with communities and landowners seriously.

This round of tendering also includes a 180MW "First Nations Equity and Revenue Sharing Set Aside" capacity, applicable to projects that commit to First Nations equity participation of 5% or higher, or that provide similar revenue-sharing arrangements.

Federal Assistant Minister for Climate Change and Energy Josh Wilson stated that this round of tendering will place greater emphasis on project readiness and delivery capability, including the ability to attract financing. He said that strengthening deliverability and financing capability requirements will help projects supported by the CIS to be successfully completed and supply power to the grid when needed; this round of tendering will provide the generation capacity required for Western Australia's economic and population growth.

The launch of Round 11 builds on recent CIS investment in Western Australia. Tenders announced earlier this year have supported 10 projects, totaling 1.9GW of renewable energy generation capacity and 482MW of battery energy storage.

The Australian Government stated that if the generation and dispatchable capacity targets for this round are achieved, Round 11 is likely to be the final round of CIS tendering in the WEM.