Consultation on Firming LTESA Product and Tender Design
Following publication of the 2026 Firming Infrastructure Investment Objectives (IIO) Report, ASL is commencing consultation on the proposed design of a future competitive tender and Firming Long-Term Energy Service Agreement (LTESA) product.
The consultation responds to the characteristics of firming infrastructure identified in the 2026 Firming IIO Report as being required to support NSW's future reliability needs. Specifically, projects will need to demonstrate the ability to provide:
- net energy contribution during periods of system stress
- dispatchable capacity when required
- sustained energy delivery for at least eight hours, and ideally longer.
These characteristics differ from previous firming tenders, which focused on supporting a minimum of two hours of firming capacity. Fuel-based generation, including gas-fired generation, is expected to be well placed to demonstrate these characteristics and make a significant contribution to NSW's future reliability needs.
How to participate
Interested stakeholders are invited to review the consultation materials and provide feedback during the consultation period from 13 October 2026 to 4 November 2026.
Consultation materials include:
All consultation questions are available in the consultation paper. To participate in the consultation, please submit answers or upload written response via the consultation survey portal. We ask that all feedback aligns with consultation questions.
Consultation feedback provided for Questions 3 - 15 will be published and attributed to organisations, unless otherwise advised by the organisation. Questions 1 and 2 refer to project information and will be kept commercial in confidence.
About the consultation
ASL is committed to ensuring its products and procurement approaches evolve to support the infrastructure needed to maintain a reliable electricity system for NSW consumers. The 2026 Firming Infrastructure Investment Objectives (IIO) Report identified a need for future firming infrastructure capable of providing net energy contribution, dispatchable capacity and sustained energy delivery during periods of system stress.
In response, ASL is consulting on the design of a future competitive tender and Firming LTESA product.
Last updated 12 Oct 2026