Australia opens 5-GW CIS tender to accelerate NEM renewables build-out

• Australia launched its seventh Capacity Investment Scheme tender, seeking bids for 5 GW of new renewable generation in the National Electricity Market.

Australia has opened registrations and bids for its seventh Capacity Investment Scheme (CIS) tender, targeting contracts for 5 GW of new renewable generation across the National Electricity Market (NEM). The round is designed to push a larger pipeline of shovel-ready wind and solar over the line, while aligning delivery with transmission upgrades and the retirement schedule of aging coal units.

CIS contracts function as revenue-stabilizing instruments. By offering long-term certainty around project cash flows, they reduce financing costs and help sponsors lock in scarce equipment—particularly transformers, switchgear and grid-forming inverter packages that remain pacing items. For governments and consumers, the structure keeps competitive tension high at auction while focusing on timely delivery and grid services, not just nameplate megawatts.

This 5-GW tender leans into system needs. Daytime solar helps cut fuel costs and emissions, but the NEM’s challenge is the evening ramp. Expect a strong showing from projects with hybrid-ready designs: single-axis trackers and high-efficiency modules paired with plant controllers that can provide reactive power, fault ride-through and rapid curtailment response. Many bidders will preserve pad space and transformer headroom for future batteries, if not propose co-located storage on day one to shift energy into peak hours and deliver fast frequency support.

Community expectations are now built into the playbook. Successful bids typically arrive with credible consultation records, biodiversity enhancements (species-rich grasslands, habitat buffers), construction traffic plans and visual mitigation. On the grid side, projects close to strengthened substations and along planned Renewable Energy Zones will score for deliverability and reduced curtailment risk.

The tender also acknowledges the practicalities of supply chains. Portfolio bids that standardize equipment across multiple sites can compress timelines and lower levelized costs. Unified SCADA and analytics allow operators to optimize tracker algorithms, cleaning cycles and inverter setpoints—small improvements that compound over years.

Taken together, the seventh CIS tender is less about headline capacity and more about system shape—adding megawatts where the NEM can use them most, and ensuring the next wave of projects arrives bankably, buildably, and with flexibility in mind. Submissions now give way to bidder diligence and shortlisting, with a premium on projects that can move swiftly from award to energization.