The government announced the winners of LTESA Round 6 for long-duration energy storage today (5/2/2026). The round secured 1,171 MW / 11,980 MWh of long-duration battery storage across six lithium-ion projects, the largest volume of energy capacity awarded in a single LTESA tender. This takes New South Wales to its legislated minimum LDES targets of 2 GW by 2030 and 28 GWh by 2034.

This article reviews the projects awarded contracts, tracks progress against storage targets, and outlines next steps for the scheme.

Check out CIS tender 4’s report here.

Executive Summary

• LTESA Round 6 awarded 1,171 MW/11,980 MWh of LDES contracts to six lithium-ion battery projects. This has now met the NSW Electricity Infrastructure Roadmaps 2030 and 2034 minimum objectives for LDES.
• All winning projects have durations between 8.7 and 11.5 hours, with the largest being Neoen's 330 MW/3,500 MWh Great Western Battery.
• Combined CIS and LTESA schemes have now contracted 13.8 GW/67.6 GWh of battery energy storage capacity across the NEM.
• New South Wales hosts the majority of contracted BESS capacity, with 5.5 GW/28.2 GWh of BESS backed by government revenue guarantees.

LTESA Round 6 awards 12 GWh of long-duration battery energy storage in New South Wales

Opening in May 2025, the sixth round focused on supporting long-duration energy storage. It sought proposals with durations of eight hours or longer, targeting 1 GW or at least 8 GWh of new capacity.

Round 6 awarded contracts to six lithium-ion battery projects, with durations ranging from 8.7 to 11.5 hours. Across all LTESA rounds, the scheme has secured 11 battery projects and two pumped-hydro projects, totalling 2.77 GW / 30 GWh. With these projects expected to be online before 2030, in line with Eraring’s recently delayed closure date, the scheme meets the NSW Electricity Infrastructure Roadmap’s 2030 and 2034 minimum requirements for long-duration energy storage.

Round 6 continued the trend toward lithium-ion battery projects in long-duration storage tenders. All 1,171 MW/11,980 MWh of capacity awarded in this round came from battery energy storage.

While LTESA contracts are exclusive to New South Wales, the state's share of total government-backed storage extends beyond just the scheme. New South Wales accounts for 5.5 GW of the 13 GW of BESS contracted through combined LTESA and CIS tenders. This represents 42% of government-backed storage capacity in the NEM.

Edify Energy and Ark Energy lead Government contracted capacity

Edify Energy has secured the most battery energy storage capacity across all tenders and rounds, winning contracts for five battery assets. Ark Energy follows closely, with multiple successful bids including the 250 MW Bowmans Creek BESS in Round 6.

Neoen secured the largest single project in Round 6 with the 330 MW/3,500 MWh Great Western Battery. It also operates the Southern Hemisphere’s largest battery, the 560 MW/2,240 MWh Collie BESS, in Western Australia’s WEM.

Other developers securing their first LTESA contracts in this round include BW ESS Australia, FRV Services Australia, and Bridge Energy. More broadly, operational experience makes developers more competitive, as delivery capability directly informs project assessment.

Multiple tenders scheduled for 2026

The next LTESA tender for firming capacity was launched in October 2025. It seeks 500 MW of firming generation to strengthen reliability in the Sydney–Newcastle–Wollongong region during peak demand. Results are expected by the end of May 2026.

Beyond this, several CIS tenders are scheduled for 2026 for both the NEM and WEM:

• Tender 5 (WEM generation): 1.6 GW target, expected March/April 2026.
• Tender 6 (WEM dispatchable): 2.4 GWh target, expected March/April 2026.
• Tender 7 (NEM generation): 5 GW target, expected May 2026.
• Tender 8 (NEM dispatchable): 16 GWh target (equivalent to 4 GW of four-hour storage), expected June 2026.

All upcoming CIS tenders will use a single-stage process. Further details on tender specifications and eligibility requirements are yet to be released.