Renewable Energy Generator Connections - Rule Change to Expedite Connections

The recent release of the 2024 Integrated System Plan from the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) confirmed what many industry participants already know – the rate at which variable renewable generation is being connected to the National Electricity Market (NEM) is currently too slow. The Australian Energy Market Commission’s rule change coming into effect tomorrow (11 July) is aimed at improving the R1 registration stage of the connection process.

We consider these changes to be sensible reflections of what would otherwise be good practice between stakeholders in the connection process:

• Introducing guidelines for timely responses and communication of decision-making by AEMO;
• Clarifying AEMO’s role relative to Network Service Providers (NSPs) in registering participants;
• Introducing obligations for sensible information sharing between AEMO and NSPs; and
• Allowing revisions to generator standards where pragmatic, allowing engineering judgement to prevail over prescriptive National Energy Rule (NER) requirements.

While these changes to the registration process are a step in the right direction, increasing the speed of renewable energy connections requires broader regulatory reform to give all stakeholders the confidence to invest. The other Connections Reform Initiative recommendations along with greater flexibility for NSPs to engage with, and invest alongside developers earlier in the development process is necessary.

We discuss these changes in detail here https://www.pwc.com.au/power-and-utilities/connecting-the-dots.html?icid=connecting-dots-social-internal-organic-1

Please contact Martin Ivanovski Jillian Hocking Rebecka Hicks for further details on this rule change and our experience in assisting developers commercialise their renewable energy generation projects.