South Australia opened the first tender of its Firm Energy Reliability Mechanism (FERM) in late 2025. The round targeted 700 MW of long-duration dispatchable capacity, split across three delivery dates. Results of the first tender were released by ASL at the end of May.

Six projects won Firm Energy Reliability Mechanism Agreements (FERMAs) - every one a lithium-ion battery. No gas project won, and no pumped hydro was in the running. Together the winners commit 517 MW and 4,136 MWh, 74% of the 700 MW target.

Key takeaways

• Batteries swept all six contracts. Lithium-ion BESS took every FERMA, despite expectations that AGL's proposed Barker Inlet gas project would compete.
• The round came in undersubscribed. ASL awarded 517 MW against a 700 MW target. Category 1 reached 94% (375 MW), Category 2 hit 71% (142 MW), and Category 3 awarded nothing.
• Location mattered. All six sites cluster along South Australia's mid-north-to-Adelaide transmission corridor, the strongest part of the network and closest to load.
• The 8-hour firm rule halved nameplate power. The six sites hold 1,334 MW of nameplate capacity but commit only 517 MW, as four-hour batteries derate to meet the eight-hour requirement.

Batteries won every contract, gas won none

The six winners span five developers. Neoen took two with Goyder Battery Stages 1 and 2. Ampyr Energy won with the Northern Battery, Iberdrola with Tungkillo, Akaysha with Brinkworth, and ZEBRE with Dartmoor.

Neoen holds the largest developer footprint, at 150 MW across its two Goyder stages. Ampyr's Northern Battery is the single biggest project, at 125 MW. Category 1 alone accounts for 73% of the capacity awarded.

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The winners also sit in a tight band through the mid-north and around Adelaide. None landed on the Eyre Peninsula or in the far north. That clustering is no accident: the assessment rewarded sites in strongest parts of the network, close to load centres.