The winners of the latest CIS tender round were announced yesterday, 24 June 2026, with 15 standalone BESS projects selected across the NEM totalling 4.2 GW and 16.1 GWh. CIS Tender 8 is the largest battery award of any CIS round to date, narrowly beating Tender 3's 4.1 GW and 15.4 GWh. Unlike the generation rounds that preceded it, every project is a standalone battery with no co-located solar or wind. The tender’s design likely favoured this outcome, as standalone BESS projects typically score more competitively on deliverability criteria, given that grid connection timelines and approvals are simpler than for hybrid developments.

Queensland emerges as the dominant state, accounting for 51% of the capacity awarded across seven projects, a notable shift from the generation rounds, where New South Wales consistently led. Meanwhile, Ampyr Energy secured nearly a third of the entire round with four projects, and the overwhelming majority of selected batteries are four-hour systems, reflecting the tender's design intent.

This article reviews the awarded projects and what they signal for dispatchable capacity in the NEM. Read the Tender 7 results here.

Executive summary

• CIS Tender 8 awarded 4.2 GW and 16.1 GWh across 15 standalone BESS projects, the most storage capacity in a single CIS round.
• Queensland secured 7 of the 15 projects and 51% of the capacity, more than the other states combined, a shift from the earlier rounds where NSW held the largest share.
• Ampyr Energy is the largest winner with four projects totalling 1.4 W and 5.2 GWh, more than the next three developers combined.
• 13 of 15 projects are four-hour systems, confirming four hours as the default duration for NEM dispatchable procurement.
• Tender 8 adds 4.2 GW to the NEM BESS pipeline, which Modo projects at 20.9 GW operational by 2030.

The 15 selected projects deliver 16.1 GWh, meeting the round’s energy capacity target

The round sought 4 GW of four-hour-equivalent capacity, and the 15 selected projects land within one percent of that target on both power and energy. The small overshoot on power reflects two shorter-duration projects in the mix, Ampyr’s Bulabul 1 at two hours and Lightsource bp’s Woonga Creek at 3.5 hours.

​Ampyr Energy won four contracts totalling 1,425 MW, 32% of the round and more than the next two biggest winners combined, Potentia (480 MW) and Edify (500 MW). Nine developers shared the contracts in total, with the remaining six taking one project each. The round also allowed aggregations of smaller projects above 30 MW to qualify, though none made it through to selection.

​Tender 8 is the largest battery award of any CIS round

​At 16.1 GWh, Tender 8 narrowly beats Tender 3's record of 15.4 GWh. It is also the first dedicated NEM dispatchable round, distinct from the generation rounds that co-located storage with solar and wind.

The WEM rounds (T2, T5, T6) were smaller and focused on Western Australia, while Rounds 1 and 7 covered the NEM on a smaller scale.

​Queensland accounts for 51% of Tender 8 capacity

​Queensland’s seven projects account for 2,150 MW and 51% of the round’s energy, more than the other three states combined. This is a notable shift from the earlier generation rounds, where New South Wales consistently held the largest share of awarded capacity.

Cumulatively, the CIS programme has now contracted over 16 GW of BESS across the NEM and WEM. New South Wales led through the earlier generation rounds, but Tender 8's Queensland weighting meaningfully narrows that gap.

​Less than 1 in 10 CIS battery winners have reached financial close

Across all CIS rounds, only 1.8 GW of the 17.5 GW awarded has progressed to a final investment decision. More telling is how that happened: Bulabul 1, the only Tender 8 project at construction, secured financing before the result was announced. Across the broader CIS pipeline, projects that have reached FID largely did so on the strength of their own business case rather than as a direct result of the government contract.

Many early-round winners remain in planning, likely having bid annuity caps that were too low to support a viable business case. A CIS agreement provides a revenue floor, but if that floor does not stack up financially, it does not move a project closer to construction. Winning a CIS contract and reaching FID are two different things.

​The NEM pipeline reaches 45 GW, but the realistic buildout by 2030 is 20.9 GW

Tender 8 adds 4.2 GW to a NEM BESS pipeline that already totals around 45 GW across projects with a confirmed status. The chart below shows how that pipeline is expected to be delivered over time, based on each project’s anticipated commercial date, alongside Modo’s central projection for what actually gets built.

Most of the pipeline sits in the planning stage with no committed financing or approvals, which is why the central projection of 20.9 GW by end-2030 sits well below the total pipeline. The largest cluster of expected completions falls in late 2028, when a significant number of projects have nominated commercial dates. Tender 8 winners are concentrated in the 2027 to 2029 window, when most projects are expected to work through grid connection and financing. Awarded capacity has already surpassed the CIS scheme’s original targets, and further tenders reflect the attrition expected across the pipeline.

What comes next

Two further CIS rounds are now open. Tender 9 is a 5 GW generation round, with registrations closing on 6 July. NSW projects are ineligible, having met their allocation through earlier rounds, and the round includes a 500 MW First Nations set-aside. Tender 10 is the next dispatchable round, targeting the same 4 GW / 16 GWh as Tender 8, with registrations closing on 4 August. It is likely to be the final NEM dispatchable round under the CIS, provided the scheme’s capacity targets are met.