Allens has advised Australian clean energy developer ACEnergy on its successful participation in the Capacity Investment Scheme (CIS) Dispatchable Capacity tender round 3, securing support for two of its battery energy storage system (BESS) projects, Joel Joel BESS and Little River BESS.
This was the first National Electricity Market (NEM)-wide dispatchable generation tender under the CIS, and attracted significant interest across the energy sector.
The Joel Joel and Little River BESS projects are among 16 successful projects in this tender round. They will collectively deliver 4.13GW of storage capacity to the NEM.
'We are pleased to have supported ACEnergy on this successful outcome. Batteries of this kind will play a critical role in supporting Australia's energy transition, helping to ensure a reliable and secure electricity supply,' said Partner Andrew Mansour.
'We have seen CIS agreements and other similar government support agreements play an increasingly important role in enhancing the bankability of renewables and storage projects. Project financiers are continuing to develop a greater understanding of how such agreements can underpin forecast project cashflows and ACEnergy's success in this CIS tender will further strengthen the revenue profile of these important projects in that context,' said Partner Lisa Zhou.
Allens drew on its deep understanding of the CIS framework, experience advising on previous tender rounds and experience working with developers and financiers to ensure bankability, to work closely and efficiently with ACEnergy throughout the process. The firm has now advised on several successful CIS bids.
