Bowen says CIS tenders to be fast-tracked, new focus on local networks and grid bottlenecks

Federal energy minister Chris Bowen has announced that the assessment time for tenders under the government’s flagship renewable energy policy will be fast tracked to help ensure Australia meets its ambitious targets for 2030.

Bowen says that the assessment period for tenders held under the Capacity Investment Scheme, which is seeking a minimum 23 gigawatts of new wind and solar capacity and 9 GW (36 GWh) of battery storage, will be shortened from nine months to six months.

“Today I’m announcing that we will reduce the time taken to finalise tender outcomes to around six months (from the current nine months)  by moving to a one stage tender process (rather than two stages, as is the case now),” Bowen says in a speech to the Energy Week conference in Melbourne on Wednesday.  

“This means proponents will know the outcomes sooner and be able to decide whether to rebid into subsequent tenders. The beauty of the CIS is that it provides the industry investment certainty but also that we can learn and improve it as we go, as we will continue to do.”

The first generation tender awarded more than 6.4 GW of new capacity after being flooded with more than 40 GW of project proposals.

Bowen says that the second tender, also for more than 6 GW of new wind and solar capacity, has also been well oversubscribed. 

“I am pleased to announce that in our most recent tender, for generation projects in the NEM, we received bids representing nearly 16.5GW of capacity, which is nearly three times the tender target of 6GW,” he said.

“All jurisdictions are well represented in the bids, with around twice or more the target capacity for each jurisdictions under assessment. 

“Many bids were hybrid generation and storage projects, with these delivering an additional storage capacity of over 20GWh for the NEM.”

Bowen says the target of 82 per cent renewables by 2030 is ambitious and achievable, and said the new failures at the ageing Yallourn coal fired power station in Victoria last week highlighted the fact that coal fired power station outages are the biggest threat to reliability in the energy system.   

“We need to get renewables and storage online for a more affordable, more reliable system,” he said.  “In three short years we have seen Capacity Investment Scheme unlock record levels of investment in Australia’s energy grid and get us on track to reach 82% renewable energy by 2030.”  

Bowen said the sector still faces hurdles including social license challenges, workforce constraints, and approval times, which he says are being addressed through the work of Australian Energy Infrastructure Commissioner Tony Mahar.    

He also highlighted the need to “make the most use out of existing transmission and distribution networks”, which follows a recent assessment by AEMO that transmission costs are soaring, and that its transmission plan may need to be reviewed. Many have argued for an increased focus on local networks. 

“New technologies including analytical tools, sensors, battery firming, virtual transmission, and demand response systems offer huge potential to improve the efficiency of grids, while lowering consumer costs and improving grid security,” Bowen said.

On this, the government is opening guidelines for government funding under the Grid Enhancing Technologies grants program, which will support “cutting edge innovations” that can deliver greater utilisation and productivity of existing networks, and address costly network congestion “black spots”.

He says this will reduce the need for additional network infrastructure, and improving network visibility and control.   

“While this all sounds very technical, it all adds up to cheaper electricity bills for Australian families and businesses, a more secure grid, and greater resilience against dangers like bushfires, extreme weather events, and cyber risks,” he said.

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