New South Wales Opens 1-GW Tender for Long-Duration Storage Capacity

• AEMO Services has launched a tender to contract 1 GW of long-duration energy-storage capacity across New South Wales, strengthening grid reliability ahead of looming coal retirements.

New South Wales has fired the starting gun on its largest auction yet for long-duration energy storage, inviting developers to vie for 1 GW of capacity under the state’s Electricity Infrastructure Roadmap. The competitive process, run by the state’s Consumer Trustee AEMO Services, opened to bids today and will award Long-Term Energy Service Agreements (LTESAs) that underwrite revenues for storage assets capable of delivering at least eight hours of continuous discharge.

The tender—expected to close in mid-July—targets systems that can be online before 2034, although the market operator is encouraging faster-tracked projects to help cover supply gaps created by the scheduled retirement of coal stations this decade. Eligible technologies range from pumped-hydro reservoirs and flow batteries to emerging long-duration chemistries, provided they can firm renewable output and keep the lights on through multi-hour evening peaks.

AEMO Services chief executive Pauline Codevelle said the auction “builds on the momentum” of February’s award round, where three projects—two large batteries and a pumped-hydro scheme—secured contracts totalling 1.03 GW/13.79 GWh, nearly tripling the storage backed by New South Wales so far. With this latest call, the state will have locked in roughly 40 % of its 2030 target of 2 GW of firm capacity, putting it ahead of schedule on reliability goals.

Winning bidders will receive 20-year LTESAs that provide a floor price for dispatched energy and optional access to cap contracts, giving lenders confidence to finance projects whose revenue streams historically depended on volatile wholesale prices. In exchange, developers must meet strict milestone deadlines, local-content benchmarks, and community-benefit requirements baked into the Roadmap legislation.

By stacking policy certainty on top of Australia’s booming renewable pipeline, New South Wales hopes to anchor investment in storage technologies that can soak up midday solar surpluses and release them after sunset, smoothing the transition away from coal and toward an environment dominated by wind and sun. If fully subscribed, today’s 1-GW auction would more than double the long-duration storage capacity already under contract in the state—another significant stride toward its clean-energy future.