Australia’s New South Wales has seen 532MW of firming projects contracted through its seventh infrastructure tender, securing two projects designed to strengthen electricity supply during periods of peak demand and system stress in the Sydney-Newcastle-Wollongong region.

New South Wales is set to open its seventh firming tender, seeking approximately 500MW of energy storage to support grid reliability.

The New South Wales government has announced plans to launch a new tender seeking 500MW of firming capacity, seeking bids from battery energy storage, gas and virtual power plants (VPP).

The Australian government’s start of competitive tenders for dispatchable renewable energy capacity backed with energy storage is an unprecedented step for national energy policy.

New South Wales is tendering for firming resources that can dispatch energy to the grid for two hours or more.