Western Australia’s energy storage is set to be supercharged, with four big batteries successfully bidding for support under the state’s first Capacity Investment Scheme (CIS) tender.
The projects are scheduled to be operational no later than October 2027 and will supply Western Australia’s grid with an extra 654MW of capacity, capable of discharging the equivalent of nearly 2600MWh of energy.
This means the batteries can charge from clean, cheap, renewable energy during the day and be used during the evening peak to power more than 600,000 households for up to four hours, before being recharged the following day.
The four projects are expected to create hundreds of construction and operation jobs and have a lasting positive impact on their regions.
The tender, launched in September 2024, was originally designed to bring on 500MW of new storage projects in the state. Assessment criteria included the project’s ability to reduce the wholesale cost of electricity, and boost reliability across the state’s Wholesale Electricity Market (WEM).
Interest from developers was exceptionally strong, with initial bids for projects to deliver nearly seven times more capacity than tendered, resulting in the Federal Government being able to secure more storage than originally planned.
Proponents are expected to deliver $145 million in community benefits, $41.5 million in benefits to First Nations groups, spend more than $712 million on local content, and bring a $63.5 million boost to local employment including through funding for locally based vocational education and training programs and commitments to employ local apprentices.
The Western Australian tender follows successful tenders in the eastern states, including two pilot dispatchable capacity tenders and one renewable generation tender supporting 6.4GW of new solar and wind projects and 1GW of new storage.
The projects are part of the Federal Government’s Reliable Renewables Plan to bring on enough of the cheapest form of energy and storage quickly, to meet growing demand from households and businesses, and replace Australia’s ageing, increasingly unreliable and expensive coal fleet as it retires.
On average, about a third of the WEM already comes from cheap, clean, reliable renewables, with a record-breaking peak in 2025 of more than 84 per cent.
The next Western Australian tender for generation and storage is scheduled for mid-2025, with consultation now open for feedback on tender design:
https://www.dcceew.gov.au/about/news/consultation-open-cis-wa-tender-design
Federal Minister for Climate Change and Energy, Chris Bowen, said the Federal Government’s plan is working, with renewable investment into the energy grid at record levels.
“Now we’re seeing investors and developers outcompeting each other for the chance to deliver even more of the cheapest form of energy for Western Australia this decade.”
