Australia's Capacity Investment Scheme is adding a dedicated First Nations equity and revenue-sharing Set Aside for upcoming clean-energy tenders. Industry reporting says 500 MW of renewable generation capacity in Tender 9 is reserved for projects that commit to meaningful First Nations participation.
Key facts
- Programme: Capacity Investment Scheme (CIS)
- Tender 9: National Electricity Market renewable generation tender
- Set-aside: 500 MW for qualifying renewable energy projects
- Participation threshold: at least 5% equity participation and/or revenue sharing with First Nations communities
- Tender 10: a separate dispatchable-capacity tender, with industry reporting pointing to a related storage allocation under the same framework
- CIS target: 40 GW of new capacity by 2030, including renewable generation and clean dispatchable capacity
Why it matters
The change makes community benefit and First Nations participation a formal capacity-allocation issue, not only a social-licence promise. That could influence how developers structure ownership, land access, benefit-sharing agreements and local engagement for Australian solar, wind and storage projects.
For solar developers, the message is practical: projects that can demonstrate genuine local partnership may have a better path through competitive tenders. For investors and EPCs, the set-aside could also shift diligence questions from pure technical delivery toward governance, community agreements and long-term benefit sharing.
Sources
- PV Tech coverage - July 8, 2026
- Australian Government Capacity Investment Scheme page - last updated June 24, 2026
SolarXList summary based on publicly available industry sources checked on July 8, 2026.