New South Wales shortlists 3 consortia for REZ transmission network

Three tenderers have been shortlisted for the Central-West Orana renewable energy zone (REZ) transmission network, the New South Wales government announced on Wednesday.

The three shortlisted groups are ACE Energy, which includes Acciona SA (BME:ANA), Cobra and Endeavour Energy; Network REZolution, which is made up of Pacific Partnerships, UGL, CPB Contractors, the three of which are part of CIMIC Group (ASX:CIM), and APA Group (ASX:APA); and NewGen Networks, including Plenary Group, Elecnor SA (BME:ENO), Essential Energy and SecureEnergy.

The shortlisted consortia will proceed to a request for proposals (RFP) stage, soon to be launched by Energy Corporation of NSW (EnergyCo), while the contract is due to be awarded in 2023.

The Central-West Orana REZ will be the first of five REZs across the eastern Australian state. Formally declared in November 2021, the zone is expected to unlock 3 GW of capacity by the mid-2020s. In June 2020, it attracted registrations of interest from 27 GW of new generation and storage projects.

The network operator will design, finance, build, operate and maintain the network infrastructure for the Central-West Orana REZ.

“The network operator will play a critical role in the REZ by connecting power from energy suppliers, including wind and solar farms, and distributing it to energy consumers across the State,” explained deputy premier Paul Toole.

The government expects the REZ to bring more than AUD 5 billion (USD 3.6bn/EUR 3.4bn) of private investment to the region and around 3,900 peak construction jobs.

(AUD 1 = USD 0.713/EUR 0.677)

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