The Australian government has officially launched two Capacity Investment Scheme (CIS) tenders in Western Australia, targeting 2.4GWh of energy storage and 1.6GW of renewable energy generation.
Announced today (29 August) by Australia’s climate change and energy minister Chris Bowen, the tenders, which form part of the federal government’s CIS initiative to seek 40GW of renewables and energy storage by 2030, will specifically target projects that will connect to Western Australia’s South-West Interconnected System (SWIS), and by extension, the Wholesale Electricity Market (WEM).
According to Bowen, these latest rounds will unlock an estimated AU$4 billion (US$2.62 billion) of additional private investment in the WEM.
“These tenders will help deliver cleaner, more reliable and more affordable energy for Western Australian households and businesses,” Bowen said in the announcement.
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Both tenders will be the first to implement a streamlined single-stage bidding process, consolidating technical and financial proposals, intended to shorten the tender duration from nine months to approximately six. This approach is designed to increase efficiency and support the timely signing of Capacity Investment Scheme Agreements (CISAs).
In an interview with ESN Premium, Nick Hawke, director of Australia’s Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC), recently said this move was a positive shift for the CIS scheme.
Potential proponents are advised to register before 10 October 2025 for both tenders, with bids to close on 7 November. Successful bids into Tenders 5 and 6 are expected to be announced in March 2026. You can find out more about registering via the official website.
At the recent Battery Asset Management Summit Australia 2025, Thimo Mueller, general manager, commercial at AusEnergy Services Ltd (ASL), formerly AEMO Services, confirmed that the results from Tender 3 of the CIS initiative will be released “in the coming weeks”.
Previous WEM CIS tenders and the opportunity for energy storage
The SWIS faces unique challenges as Western Australia integrates higher levels of renewable energy, particularly rooftop solar, which has led to periods of low daytime demand and increased reliance on dispatchable resources during evening peaks.
Tender 6 aims to address these challenges by procuring flexible capacity that can respond to fluctuations in supply and demand.
This latest procurement follows the successful completion of Tender 2 for the WEM, which resulted in four projects being selected for CISAs earlier this year.
Those projects will collectively deliver 654MW/2,595MWh of clean dispatchable capacity across Western Australia’s main grid system, slightly exceeding the original target for that procurement round, which stood at 2,000MWh.
The winning projects, the Boddington Giga Battery, Merredin Big Battery, Muchea Battery, and Waroona Renewable Energy Project, are scheduled to be operational by October 2027. Each project is 4-hours in duration.
The consistent oversubscription of previous CIS tenders showcases strong industry interest in the programme. The first six tenders already account for over half of the total required capacity under the scheme – equivalent to 12.3GW of generation and 6GW of dispatchable capacity.
Western Australia’s energy storage industry continues to grow
The focus on Western Australia comes amid significant growth in the country’s battery storage sector. As reported by Energy-Storage.news earlier this week, recent data from AEMO showed that BESS has demonstrated the highest reliability among clean energy technologies in Australia.
This reliability factor is particularly important for Western Australia’s isolated grid, which operates independently from the National Electricity Market (NEM) that serves the eastern states.
Western Australia’s grid is divided into two isolated networks. The SWIS covers the state’s southwest, including the capital, Perth, and the North West Interconnected System (NWIS), primarily serving the Pilbara mining region.
The state has been progressively increasing its renewable energy capacity, creating growing demand for storage solutions to manage intermittency and provide grid stability services.
In other news, French independent power producer (IPP) Neoen, which is now fully owned by Canadian asset manager Brookfield, has switched on the second phase of its 560MW/2,240MWh Collie BESS in Western Australia.
Our publisher, Solar Media, will host the Energy Storage Summit Australia 2026 on 17-18 March in Sydney. You can get 20% off your ticket using the code ESN20 at checkout.
