Emerging Energy Program
The $75 million Emerging Energy Program supports the development of innovative, large-scale electricity and storage projects in NSW. The program will help reduce barriers to investing in emerging technologies, supporting affordable, reliable and clean energy across the state.
There are two funding streams offering grants to speed up project development:
- Pre-investment studies: Funding for activities that will lead to development of a dispatchable electricity project.
- Capital projects: Funding to assist with the construction of a dispatchable electricity project.
For more information see the program guidelines and the frequently asked questions.
We have awarded grants in stream one. Projects in stream two have been shortlisted and applications are currently being assessed.
At this stage there are no further funding rounds scheduled for both streams. We will update this page should this change.
1. Pre-investment studies
We have awarded grants for 10 pre-investment studies, worth a total of $7.1 million. These projects represent 2,150 megawatts of on-demand electricity, with the potential to leverage almost $2 billion in private investment.
Each funding recipient will participate in knowledge-sharing activities to help industry deploy new technologies and business models in NSW.
Below is the list of the 10 projects selected for pre-investment studies grant funding.
| Applicant company | Project title | Primary project technology |
Dispatchable electricity capacity |
Location (closest town) |
| Hydrostor Australia | Broken Hill Compressed Air Energy Storage | Compressed Air Energy Storage | 200 MW | Broken Hill |
| Renew Estate | Buronga Energy Park Battery | Battery | 250 MW | Mildura |
| Meridian Energy | Burrinjuck Hydro Energy Storage Project | Pumped Hydro | 50 MW | Yass |
| Solar Analytics Pty Ltd | Consumer-led Distributed Energy project | Virtual Power Plant | 20 MW | Various locations |
| Progressive Renewable Developments | Deepwater Solar and Battery Storage | Battery | 20 MW | Deepwater |
| Walcha Energy | Dungowan Dam Pumped Hydro | Pumped Hydro | 500 MW | Tamworth |
| UPC/AC Renewables Australia | New England Pumped Hydro | Pumped Hydro | 400 MW | Armidale |
| OMPS Pty Ltd (with Alinta Energy) | Oven Mountain Pumped Hydro Storage | Pumped Hydro | 600 MW | Armidale |
| Walcha Energy | Uralla Renewable Energy Hub Battery | Battery | 100 MW | Armidale |
| Firm Power | Western Sydney Smart Battery | Battery | 10 MW | Sydney |
2. Capital projects
21 capital projects have been shortlisted for funding and progressed to the full application stage.
The shortlisted projects include more than 700 megawatts of on-demand electricity capacity across six technologies, including pumped hydro, gas, biogas, solar thermal, virtual power plants and batteries.
The successful recipients will be announced in the first half of 2020.
Below is the list of the 21 projects shortlisted for capital projects grant funding.
| Applicant company | Project title | Primary project technology | Dispatchable electricity capacity | Location (closest town) |
| Meridian Energy Australia | Hume Hydro power station battery energy storage system | Battery | 20 MW | Lake Hume Village |
| Teys Australia | Wagga Low Emissions Energy Hub | Biogas | 8 MW | Bomen |
| Flow Power | Corporate Virtual Power Plant | Virtual Power Plant | 20 MW | Various locations |
| AGL Energy Limited | Broken Hill Battery | Battery | 50 MW | Broken Hill |
| Smart Renewables | Southern NSW commercial and residential virtual power plant | Virtual Power Plant | 5 MW | Batemans Bay |
| sonnen Australia | Regional NSW virtual power plant | Virtual Power Plant | 27.6 MW | Various locations |
| RES Australia | Newcastle Battery Energy Storage System | Battery | 40 MW | Newcastle |
| Maoneng Australia | Sunraysia Emporium | Battery | At least 50 MW | Balranald |
| TransGrid | NSW Grid Battery | Battery | 50 MW | Western Sydney |
| Reef Australia | Bio-ethanol gas for industrial user at Coleambally | Biogas | 5 MW | Coleambally |
| Hivve Technology | Sustainable Schools | Virtual Power Plant | 5 MW | Various locations |
| Origin Energy | Expansion of Shoalhaven Pumped Hydro | Pumped Hydro | 235 MW | Kangaroo Valley |
| Edify Energy | Darlington Point Energy Storage System | Battery | 25 MW | Darlington Point |
| RayGen Resources | RayGen’s Solar Power Plant | Solar Concentrated Photovoltaic with Integrated Electro-Thermal Storage | 5 MW | - |
| Endeavour Energy | Western Sydney renewable energy and load management | Virtual Power Plant | 10 MW | Various locations |
| Goldwind Australia | Hybrid Project | Gas | 72 MW | - |
| CWP Renewables | The Sapphire Battery Farm | Battery | 30 MW | Glen Innes |
| Not disclosed | Riverina Region battery energy storage system | Battery | 10 MW | - |
| Bomen Solar Farm Pty Ltd | Bomen Solar Farm Battery Energy Storage System | Lithium-ion battery | 10.3 MW | Wagga Wagga |
| UPC Renewables Australia | New England battery | Battery | 25 MW | Uralla |
| Centennial Newstan | Newstan Colliery pumped hydro storage | Pumped Hydro | 8.5 MW | Fassifern |
If you have questions about the program, including the application process, please email emergingenergy.program [at] planning.nsw.gov.au.
