Australian energy minister announces largest renewable project tender

CANBERRA, April 22 (Xinhua) -- Australian governments have struck a deal to significantly boost the nation's renewable electricity generation capacity.

Chris Bowen, the minister for climate change and energy, on Monday announced the largest-ever tender for renewable energy in Australia under a deal between the federal and state governments.

The tender, which will open for bidding in May, is for 6 gigawatts (GW) of new renewable energy generation for the national electricity market (NEM).

Of the new 6 GW, Bowen said at least 2.2 GW has been designated for Australia's most populous state, New South Wales, and another 300 megawatts (MW) for South Australia.

The tender is part of the Capacity Invest Scheme, a government-funded program aiming to deliver an additional 32 GW of renewable energy generation capacity by 2030 to help fill generation gaps left by retiring coal-fired power stations.

"We are getting on with the job of delivering practical solutions to keep the lights on for households and businesses using the cheapest, cleanest form of power, reliable renewable energy," Bowen said in a statement.

In a report published in 2023, the International Energy Agency (IEA) forecast that Australia would hit 57 GW of total renewable electricity generation in 2027. The new 6 GW would represent more than 10 percent of that total.

According to NGO the Clean Energy Council, Australia added 5.9 GW of renewable energy generation capacity in 2023.