Australia names fifteen battery projects in CIS Tender 8, nearly half destined for Queensland
Fifteen BESS projects win federal underwriting as large-scale batteries deliver more than 1 GW into NEM evening peaks, cutting gas peaker demand.
Australia's federal Labor government on Wednesday (2026-06-24) named fifteen battery energy storage projects as winners of Capacity Investment Scheme Tender 8, a storage-only auction that nearly met its target of 4 gigawatts of four-hour equivalent clean dispatchable capacity across the National Electricity Market.3
The result reinforces a shift already visible in NEM dispatch data. Large-scale batteries across the grid have been delivering more than 1,000 MW into the evening peak on average over the first quarter of 2026, according to the Australian Energy Market Operator, reducing the call on gas-fired peaking plant during the 1700-2000 AEST window when spot prices typically spike. With Wallumbilla spot gas at $5.99 per gigajoule as of Wednesday (2026-06-24), each megawatt-hour of battery dispatch during peak hours directly competes with that fuel cost, and AEMO's grid operations head Nick Westerman has cited the displacement of expensive peaking gas as a measurable outcome of the existing fleet.3
Queensland features prominently in the Tender 8 results. Nearly half of the fifteen winning projects are destined for the state, concentrating new firmed capacity in a market where coal unit retirements and grid topology have kept gas peakers commercially active well into periods when southern state prices soften. Queensland's northern zone has registered some of the NEM's highest spot price events in recent summers.3
The named projects are substantial. Ascera, a Sydney-based firmed energy platform backed by Federation Asset Management, secured an underwriting contract for its 400 MW / 1,600 MWh Gelston Energy Park. In Victoria, the 375 MW / 1,500 MWh Wimpole Battery at Bunyip North was included, along with the 350 MW / 1,428 MWh Grahams battery in Queensland's Western Downs region. Those three projects account for roughly 4.6 GWh of the round's total output before the remaining twelve are factored in.3
Not all winners met the scheme's four-hour benchmark. Ampyr's Bulabul 1 BESS near Wellington in New South Wales — rated at 300 MW with only 600 MWh of capacity, a two-hour system — made the cut alongside projects with twice the energy-to-power ratio. Ampyr's companion project, Bulabul 2, had been named in a previous battery-focused CIS tender awarded in September. The inclusion of a shorter-duration system suggests the government applied some flexibility in interpreting its four-hour equivalent target when grid location and developer track record were considered.3
Energy Minister Chris Bowen framed the announcement in terms of insulating the grid from internationally priced fuels, arguing that batteries charged by domestic wind and solar represent a structural hedge against commodity volatility. The government did not wait to celebrate before opening the next round: CIS Tender 10 was simultaneously launched on Wednesday (2026-06-24), targeting a further 4 GW / 16 GWh of storage and accepting bids until 18 August 2026. Combined with the generation-only CIS Tender 9 — which seeks 5 GW of renewable capacity and launched in May — three overlapping tender processes are now running in parallel.3,2
The pipeline faces operational constraints that tender volume alone cannot resolve. Battery projects from earlier CIS rounds have encountered transformer lead times, grid connection backlogs and planning delays, and supply chains for lithium iron phosphate cells remain concentrated among Chinese manufacturers, where trade policy uncertainty has complicated long-lead procurement. AEMO's upcoming summer readiness assessment for 2026-27 will gauge whether the combined existing and awarded BESS fleet can cover the supply gap opening as Queensland and Victoria's coal units retire before the Tender 8 cohort reaches commercial operation.1