With far more interest and opportunity in the SW-REZ for renewable energy projects than current transmission capacity allows, many of the proposed wind and solar farms on the Hay Plains are unlikely to be built unless the Government announces further transmission projects to increase capacity.

In order to understand the timelines for these project approvals, Tim Mead, the Development Director at Australian-owned renewable energy developer Someva Renewables, sat down with The [Riverine] Grazier to discuss the SW REZ Access Rights tender process.  

Someva is partnering with AGL Energy to propose the 1.5 GW wind and solar Pottinger Energy Park between Hay and Deniliquin.

A key strength of Pottinger Energy Park is that it will be very visible from Jerilderie Road for those who are keen to see the project in action, but is not likely to significantly impact the visual landscape for the drive along Cobb Highway. 

In summary, the key dates for the SW REZ Access Rights tender process include:

• May 22 – Tender commencement date, registration and project bids open and documents published.
• June 7 – Registrations close.
• June 27 – Stage 1 bids close.
• Late August – Invitation to shortlisted projects to submit Stage 2 bid.
• Late September – Stage 2 bid closes.
• December – Unsuccessful proponents are advised.
• December/January – Selected bids are announced.

Further to this, as part of the NSW Government’s development approval process, all large scale renewable energy projects must proceed through a State Significant Development approval process, in addition to the SW REZ Access Rights Tender. 

These two approval processes are independent of each other, yet run in parallel. 

AEMO Services Limited and EnergyCo are responsible for running the SW-REZ Access Rights tender process, whereas the NSW Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure is responsible for the development approval process.

Someva Renewables Development Director, Tim Mead said in practice, it is possible a proposed wind farm might secure a Development approval from the NSW Government, but may not win access rights to the SW-REZ.

This would mean the project cannot proceed at its approved scale (if at all). 

“This is a likely situation for some projects proposed in the SW-REZ given the transmission capacity constraints,” Mr Mead said.

“A project not only needs development approval to proceed, but it also needs to gain access to the grid to transmit and sell electricity to energy users. 

“There needs to be capacity available within transmission lines for new projects to connect, otherwise that project’s energy generation will be curtailed (‘switched off’). 

“While we fully support the renewable energy zone model developed by the NSW Government, there is clearly an opportunity for increased transmission capacity to enable more renewable energy projects to be connected to the grid in the future. 

“This is important as we know renewable energy backed by storage technology is the most affordable, reliable and cleanest form of energy to power Australia’s future,” Mr Mead. said. 

The current SW-REZ plans involve a number of large new transmission lines that will enable this renewable energy to be connected and transmitted to major centres such as Sydney, South Australia and Victoria. 

These new transmission lines include Project Energy Connect (PEC), Humelink, and Victoria to NSW Interconnector West (VNI-West). 

Many proposed renewable energy projects are going through the Development Approval process, but only a limited number may receive ‘Access Rights’ to connect to the grid. 

“By early 2025 we will know which projects will gain ‘Access Rights’ and the scale at which those projects can proceed, pending final development approvals,” Mr Mead added.

“This will provide more certainty and help the community understand which proposed renewable energy projects will proceed in the region,” said Mr. Mead. 

Renewable Energy Zones (REZs) are the equivalent of modern-day power stations and will group new large-scale wind, solar power generation and battery systems into locations where energy can be efficiently stored and transmitted across NSW. 

In a nutshell:

• The combined expected energy generation of the current projects being proposed far outweighs this capacity.  
  
  There are currently about ~20+ GW of renewable energy generation projects proposed in the SW-REZ.
• Developers will need to bid for Access Rights to connect to the SW-REZ network through a competitive tender process run by the AEMO Services Limited.  
• This means there will be winners and losers, as not all proposed projects will be able to go ahead.
• For the SW-REZ, that tender process opened on May 22, with results expected at the end of this year.  
• The merit criteria that will be assessed in this tender can be found here: https://aemoservices.com.au/tenders/tender-round-5-long-duration-storage-and-south-west-access-rights.

This article appeared in  The Riverine Grazier, 19 June 2024.