New South Wales has launched a new competitive tender for 500 megawatts (MW) of firming capacity, targeting delivery before the forecast shortfall in the summer of 2027–28.
Announced by Energy and Climate Change Minister Penny Sharpe at the Australian Clean Energy Summit in Sydney, the tender will prioritise dispatchable assets capable of supporting the state’s largest demand centres (Sydney, Newcastle and Wollongong) during peak periods.
The tender, to be conducted by ASL (formerly AEMO Services) later this year, will seek proposals for fast-acting technologies such as grid-scale batteries, gas peaking generation and virtual power plants.
These assets must be capable of supplying electricity or curbing demand at short notice.
“This tender will provide greater certainty against future reliability risks,” said Sharpe.
“We are proactively managing the risks associated with delivering multiple large-scale infrastructure projects at once, as we rebuild our energy system.”
The move is part of the NSW Electricity Infrastructure Roadmap’s response to expected reliability gaps as coal exits the grid.
While several projects are already in development – including AGL’s Liddell battery, Akaysha Energy’s 500MW Orana battery, Iberdrola’s Smithfield battery, and Enel X’s state-first large-scale virtual power plant – modelling indicates further firming is needed to meet the state’s energy security target.
ASL CEO Nevenka Codevelle said the tender “demonstrates the flexibility and adaptability of the NSW Electricity Infrastructure Roadmap in bringing forward additional energy capacity in response to an identified need.”
NSW’s first firming tender in 2023 delivered nearly 1GW of committed capacity, but delays and grid constraints have added urgency to the latest round.
The 500MW announced this week is expected to power around 200,000 homes during peak events, though delivery timelines and firming profiles will be scrutinised during procurement.
Firming technologies remain central to the state’s managed transition off coal, with high demand events such as summer heatwaves putting stress on an ageing system.