NSW tender to open for firming and demand response

01 October 2025

NSW’s next electricity infrastructure tender will open tomorrow 2 October, with energy storage and demand response projects invited to help further secure the reliability and resilience of NSW’s electricity system.

The tender is seeking to secure around 500 MW of additional firming and/or demand response capacity from projects that can support reliability in the Sydney-Newcastle-Wollongong sub-region during periods of peak demand.

Projects must be able to achieve commercial operations prior to November 2027, with batteries, gas generation, demand response and aggregated portfolios of smaller batteries eligible to participate.

ASL is conducting the tender in its capacity as the NSW Consumer Trustee.

The tender is open to projects in NSW, with priority given to those within the Sydney-Newcastle-Wollongong (SNW) sub-region. ASL has also published a map of other areas with relatively high locational reliability factors, with projects located in these areas also expected to perform well in the system benefit assessment.

Projects must be able to dispatch continuously at their maximum capacity for around two hours or longer. The target tender size of 500 MW is indicative, with ASL as the Consumer Trustee having discretion to support a greater or lesser volume than the target based on the merit of bids.

For more information on the tender, please visit: https://asl.org.au/tenders/tender-round-7-firming-infrastructure 

Quotes attributable to ASL CEO Nevenka Codevelle

“The firming tender opens on 2 October and ASL wants to see every project that can meet the tender requirements participate. This is a standalone opportunity for project proponents to secure a firming LTESA that can be used to accelerate delivery and support revenues when in operation.

“We’ve made key changes to the firming LTESA which includes increasing the maximum contract term to 15 years and making it easier for aggregations of smaller energy storage systems to participate.

“ASL is also reducing our tender timeframes, with a new single-stage process being used for the first time in a Consumer Trustee tender to accelerate delivery timeframes.

“If you have suitable energy storage or demand response projects which can contribute meaningfully to reliability in the Sydney-Newcastle-Wollongong sub-region by summer 2027/2028, we strongly encourage you to participate.”

For more information

ASL Media | M 0403 706 438 | E [email protected]