Capacity Investment Scheme NEM Dispatchable

About the Tender

CIS Tender 8 is seeking an indicative target of 4 GW of 4-hour equivalent clean dispatchable capacity (16 GWh) in the NEM.

Bid submissions closed at 5:00pm on 6 January 2026.

Preparing your Bid

Key documents can be found in the Tender Documents tab. These include:

• The Tender Guidelines containing relevant information on the tender process, eligibility criteria, and the merit criteria used to evaluate Bids.
• The Pro forma Capacity Investment Scheme Agreement (CISA).
• An updated version of the Pro forma CISA to accommodate Aggregated Projects.
• A Market Briefing Note on Merit Criterion 1 which sets out information relating to the evaluation of financial value, system reliability and system benefits.

Q&A process for proponents

A Q&A process will be run through the Online Portal. Registered proponents are able to submit questions, and a copy of Q&A responses will be uploaded onto the CIS Tender Q&A page. The Q&A process closed on 30 January 2026.

For any general enquiries on the tender process please contact [email protected].

Single stage tender process

This Tender will be conducted as a single stage process. Proponents will submit a single bid comprising all financial and non-financial information. A webinar was held in August 2026 outlining the changes to the tender process and can be found here, with more information available on the DCCEEW website.

CIS T3 – NEM Dispatchable Assessment Summary Market Brief

The CIS Tender 3 – NEM Dispatchable Assessment Summary Market Brief is now available, providing feedback on assessment outcomes for the tender. Proponents interested in participating in CIS T8 are encouraged to review the Market Brief to support the preparation of their bid.

Renewable Energy Transformation Agreement allocations

The Australian Government has released a Market Brief on Renewable Energy Transformation Agreement (RETA) allocations by jurisdiction.

The brief provides information on CIS capacity allocations by jurisdictions, agreed through RETA negotiations.

About ASL and AEMO's Role

ASL and AEMO have been engaged to support the roll-out of the Australian Government’s CIS as tender delivery partner, bringing together our expertise in energy markets, modelling and infrastructure finance and procurement.

ASL and AEMO’s work will help the Australian Government accelerate investment in new renewable energy generation and clean dispatchable capacity across Australia. ASL will conduct the competitive tender process, assessing overall project merit and recommending Bids to the Australian Government. The Australian Government Minister for Climate Change and Energy will select the Proponents and Projects to receive revenue support under the CIS, having regard to the recommendations of ASL.