Access schemes are a key part of the NSW Government’s plan to coordinate and encourage renewable energy and storage investment in Renewable Energy Zones (REZs) and realise the objectives of the NSW Electricity Infrastructure Roadmap (the Roadmap) and the Electricity Infrastructure Investment Act 2020 (the Act).
Generation and storage projects that wish to connect to network infrastructure which is subject to an access scheme will need to apply for an access right – either through an application process or a competitive tender. Access right holders will contribute access fees that include funds for community benefit and employment purposes in the region.
REZ access schemes may:
- govern the volume of projects that may be granted access rights to connect to REZ network infrastructure and define the terms and conditions of the access rights
- enable investment in new, low-cost generation and storage projects by providing increased certainty of curtailment risks for access right holders while maintaining an efficient level of utilisation of the REZ scheme infrastructure
- create a streamlined connection process for projects that will improve connection timeframes, provide greater certainty and reduce re-work and costs compared to the open-access connection process.
Guidelines for Access Scheme Declarations
The Minister for Energy published updated Guidelines for Access Scheme Declarations in April 2024. The Guidelines provide information on how the Minister for Energy exercises the function of making access scheme declarations.
View the Guidelines for Access Scheme Declarations
The Guidelines are intended to be flexible to allow the Minister to declare an access scheme for each REZ that provides the best outcome for local communities and NSW electricity consumers.
The initial Guidelines were published in July 2022. The updated Guidelines were published following consultation on the Draft Guidelines for Access Scheme Declarations between 22 February and 20 March 2024.
The updated Guidelines were part of the reforms to enable EnergyCo to allocate the initial tranche of access rights under the Central-West Orana REZ Access Scheme. The updates are in line with the market information notice published in January 2024.
Supporting materials
- Guidelines for Access Scheme Declarations (April 2024)
- Draft Guidelines for Access Scheme Declarations (February 2024)