Melbourne Renewable Energy Project launches competitive tender

The Melbourne Renewable Energy Project has announced a competitive tender to purchase large volumes of renewable energy through a group purchasing model. The successful tenderer will build and operate a new renewable energy plant in regional Australia.

The project is the first time in Australia that a group of large-scale energy users has investigated collectively buying utility-scale renewable energy. Led by the City of Melbourne, the group comprises Australia Post, NAB, the University of Melbourne, RMIT, NEXTDC, Zoos Victoria, the City of Port Phillip, Moreland City Council, the City of Yarra, Citywide, Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre, and Bank Australia.

“By pooling our electricity demand, we will achieve enough scale to enable a new renewable energy plant to be built,” said the chair of the City of Melbourne’s Environment Portfolio, Cr Arron Wood.

The group predicts it will purchase more than 110 GWh of energy, which is enough to power more than 28,000 households in Melbourne for a year. The tender has been released by Procurement Australia, which is seeking responses from new renewable energy projects that are shovel-ready and have planning approvals in place.

“We are challenging the market to supply us with the right energy at the right price,” City of Melbourne Lord Mayor Robert Doyle. “If the market responds effectively, we will see a new renewable energy plant constructed within the next two years.”

Wood said the purchasing group expects considerable interest from companies in the renewable energy sector. “We’ve already had strong international interest from local governments around the world about using the [direct renewable energy purchase] model to accelerate the transition to renewables,” he said.

Once the winning tender is selected, each member of the purchasing group will enter into a long-term electricity supply contract for renewable energy. Up to 140 jobs could be created in the construction phase of the plant, said Doyle, with a number of ongoing jobs in its operation and management.