Transgrid has released Australia’s largest ever tender for grid-forming batteries across New South Wales and the ACT, aiming to greater support and enable the establishment of renewable energy infrastructure across these regions.
Initial request proposals from select battery owners are expected to begin in the second half of 2026, with these contracts to be offered to battery owners with systems configured in grid-forming mode.
These tenders will comprise of systems starting with one gigawatts (GW) and scaling up to five GW.
This eventual project rollout forms part of a multi-billion dollar investment in system services that will support the integration and activation of both solar and wind, as well as other renewable energy sources.
Transgrid Executive General Manager of Network Jason Krstanoski said this stabilising role is critical to ensuring power to households and businesses stays uninterrupted when sudden faults occur, while supporting the connection of more renewable generators as the state’s coal powered fleet retires.
“We are finalising the technical analysis that will determine the battery capacity needed for our initial process, and we look forward to engaging further with battery owners in the coming months,” Krstanoski said.
“This will be followed by periodic tenders in 2026 and beyond, so that we can progressively add additional stabilising battery capacity to our system strength portfolio, eventually reaching the 5 GW target for grid-forming batteries we put forward in our system strength plan.
“At that threshold, grid-forming batteries owned by third parties will provide equivalent system strength support of 17 synchronous condensers, in terms of stabilising capacity for new renewable generator connections. This means grid-forming batteries will make up about half of NSW’s portfolio of system strength solutions.”
Following the tender process, Transgrid will register the executed contracts with AEMO for enablement in the energy market dispatch process.
The stabilising services are a crucial element of Transgrid’s plan to accelerate Australia’s clean energy future and to also help the Federal Government achieve its new 2035 climate change target of a 62 to 70 per cent reduction in emissions, compared with 2005 levels.