Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water / New England Renewable Energy Zone Network Operator Market Engagement - NEREZMER-001

The network operator will play a central role in establishing the New England REZ as the New South Wales’ second renewable energy zone. The New England REZ was formally declared by the Minister for Energy under section 19(1) of the EII Act and published in the NSW Gazette on 17 December 2021 (NE REZ Declaration). The NE REZ Declaration establishes an intended network capacity of 8GW for the New England REZ.

Procurement of the New England REZ is expected to include arrangements, separate or combined, that will be responsible for:

a.design, construction, and commissioning of the New England REZ Network Infrastructure (RNI);

b.maintenance and operations of the RNI, including obtaining registration as a ‘Transmission Network Service Provider’ under the National Electricity Law with the rights and obligations that this entails;

c.financing the RNI; and

d.coordinating new generator connections, potentially including the development and construction of the required connection assets.

Interested Parties must demonstrate to EnergyCo’s satisfaction that they will be capable (either as individual entities or in suitable consortia) of undertaking some or all of the works and services. Registration does not imply any acceptance by EnergyCo that the Interested Party has the expertise or experience required to participate in the future procurement process for the New England REZ network operator role.

Interested Parties are encouraged to participate in the registration process by completing this Market Engagement Registration Form and returning the completed form to EnergyCo via email addressed to: kent.allen@dpie.nsw.gov.au.

• The Procurement (Enforceable Procurement Provisions) Direction 2019 applies to this procurement

• A government agency may conduct negotiations with suppliers regarding the procurement