AusEnergy Services Limited (ASL, formerly AEMO Services), serving as the NSW Consumer Trustee, has opened registrations for Tender 9 under the NSW Electricity Infrastructure Roadmap. It is seeking an indicative 12 GWh of new storage capacity or approximately 1.5 GW of pumped-storage hydro or large-scale batteries that can be operational by either 2030 or 2034, as set out in the 2025 Infrastructure Investment Objectives (IIO) Report and consistent with the requirements of the Electricity Infrastructure Investment Act (EII Act).
It is expected that projects will need to meet a minimum capacity of 5 MW and must maintain contracted storage capacity that is equivalent to a duration of at least eight hours across the term of the Long-Term Energy Service Agreement (LTESA). Projects that can demonstrate a credible pathway to achieving a Commercial Operations Date (COD) prior to 31 December 2029 or 31 December 2033 are expected to be considered more favourably by the Consumer Trustee.
Registration is to close on 22 June with bids for a Long Duration Storage (LDS) LTESA to close on 6 July. Successful bids are expected to be announced in Q4 2026. Tenders are open to projects across all development stages. To submit a firm and binding financial bid, proponents need to have sufficient certainty about the financing, connection, and cost factors. Before bidding, proponents should have comfort that their project has sufficiently progressed to financial close and commercial operations, to offer a reliable LTESA price over 20 years. The tender process employs a single-stage submission with merit assessment weighted 49 per cent toward financial value and system benefits, and 17 per cent each for project deliverability, organisational capacity, and social value. The merit assessment will include contributions to system strength and the ability to provide system services, reflecting the increasing importance of grid stability as NSW transitions away from coal-fired generation. High system value may result from projects located in strong parts of the network, longer-duration storage, and assets that contribute critical system services. For example, pumped hydro can act as system strength solutions, deferring or avoiding further network costs while delivering a broader set of benefits to NSW customers.
LTESAs are revenue support mechanisms designed to unlock private investment and support projects reaching financial close under the NSW Electricity Infrastructure Roadmap. The LTESA is a financial derivative contract that provides the investor with a series of options to access a variable annuity payment in the form of a top up to net operational revenues achieved by the project, increasing project cash-flow and reducing cash-flow volatility. ASL expects proponents to bid competitively to secure the support needed to reach financial close and progress to delivery. ASL is able to award LDS LTESAs above or below the indicative tender volume where it is consistent with the requirements of the EII Act.
Under the EII Act, ASL has two minimum legislated targets for LDS infrastructure, requiring the construction of 2 GW/16 GWh by 2030, and 28 GWh by 2034. The 2025 Infrastructure Investment Objectives (IIO) report set a stretch target for 42 GWh of LDS by 2034. In this context, the tender plays an important role in further de-risking achievement of the 2030 target and maintaining momentum towards the broader IIO ambition of 42 GWh of LDS by 2034, identified as the optimal storage capacity to support a reliable and cost-effective energy system. NSW is already on track to exceed its LDS targets for 2030 and 2034 and is now seeking to unlock 50 per cent more capacity beyond those minimum benchmarks.
In tandem with the LDS tender, ASL, on behalf of the Government of NSW, is also concurrently seeking approximately 2.5 GW (7000 GWh) of renewable energy generation by end-2029 – the state’s largest generation Long-Term Energy Service Agreement (LTESA) tender yet. Tender 8 for Generation infrastructure also comprises introduces a new hybrid generation LTESA, designed to cater for the growing presence of combined solar or wind generation and battery storage projects in the pipeline. LTESA Tenders 8 and 9 will be run separately and through a single-stage process. For more information, visit the website: https://asl.org.au/tenders. Registration and bids can be submitted on the ASL website.
