The Central-West Orana Renewable Energy Zone (REZ) is the first REZ established by the NSW Government. It will cover is approximately 20,000 square kilometres and will be located between Wellington, Dunnedo and Merriwa in NSW.
The REZ will initially include three energy hubs with potential for a fourth. It has an intended network capacity of six gigawatts by 2038.
Key Dates
| May 2020 | ROIs for the development of projects in the REZ opened. |
| Jun 2020 | ROIs for the development of projects in the REZ closed. |
| Dec 2022 | Construction of projects in the REZ expected to commence. |
| Apr 2024 | Access Rights Application Process opens |
| Apr 2024 | Access Rights Application Part 1 (eligibility) submissions close |
| May 2024 | Access Rights Application Part 2 (merit) submissions close |
Funding contributions
| NSW Government | |
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The NSW Government's contribution is to develop the REZ, including the establishment of the Energy Corporation of NSW, which will coordinate the development of the REZ. In October 2023, $128 million of funding from the Transmission Acceleration Fund was provided to communities int he Central-West Orana REZ. This funding is not for energy infrastrucutre but rather community benefits such as public infrastructure upgrades, housing and accomodatino, or health and education. |
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Procurement
| Procuring Agency: | Energy Corporation of NSW |
| Tenderers (EOI/ROI): | Registrations of Interest opened for proponents of potential renewable energy and energy storage projects in the region to provide an indication of the scale, location and types of projects being considered for the REZ. |
| Related contracts: |
PROJECT HISTORY
| May 2020 | Registrations of Interest for renewable generation and storage projects in the REZ opened, closing on 5 June. |
| Jun 2020 | The NSW Government revealed 113 Registrations of Interest were received, with proposals representing an estimated 27 gigawatts of total capacity. |
| Mar 2021 | The NSW Government released the Central-West Orana REZ Access Scheme Issues Paper for public consultation. The Paper identifies the key features of the REZ's transmission project. |
| Oct 2021 | The Central-West Orana REZ was formally declared by the Minister for Energy and Environment under section 19(1) of the Electricity Infrastructure Investment Act 2020. The original declaration specified a network capacity of 3GW. |
| Nov 2021 | The formal declaration of the Central-West Orana REZ was published in the NSW Gazette. |
| May 2023 | The NSW Government released the Network Infrastructure Strategy, a 20-year strategy for the practical coordination of NSW network infrastructure to connect new generation and storage in NSW’s five Renewable Energy Zones, and meet the Electricity Infrastructure Investment Act 2020 objectives. The Strategy identified a need to increase network capacity in the Central-West Orana REZ and recommended options to increase the network capacity of the Central-West Orana REZ from 3 GW up to 4.5 GW initially under Stage 1, and to 6 GW by 2038 under Stage 2. |
| Sep 2023 | The NSW Government invited Open Tenders for a REZ Network Infrastructure Technical Advisor for the project, closing 3 October. The successful tenderer will be for technical engineering support and design for the project. |
| Dec 2023 | The government announced that the REZ declaration has been amended to increase the intended network capacity to 6 gigawatt (GW) from 3GW. |
| Apr 2024 | EnergyCo published draft guidelines for applicants seeking Central-West Orana REZ access rights. These draft guidelines detail how EnergyCo will invite, accept and assess applications for access rights and set out eligibility criteria. |
| Apr 2024 | EnergyCo announced that the Central-West Orana REZ access rights application process had opened, with Part 1 (eligibility) submissions closing on 29 April and Part 2 (merit) submissions closing on 24 May 2024. |
NSW Network Infrastructure Strategy
Central-West Orana REZ Access Rights Application Process
Central-West Orana REZ Access Rights Application Process
