On 29 August 2024, the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) provided the Australian Energy Regulator (AER) with two reliability instrument requests.
- T-3 reliability instrument for a forecast reliability gap in New South Wales from 1 December 2027 to 29 February 2028. The forecast reliability gap size is 570 MW.
- T-3 reliability instrument for a forecast reliability gap in Victoria from 1 December 2027 to 31 March 2028. The forecast gap size is 130 MW.
The AER must decide whether it is appropriate to make the requested reliability instruments by 29 October 2024. The AER will assess the instrument requests in accordance with the Interim Reliability Instrument Guidelines and Interim Forecasting Best Practice Guidelines.
If the AER makes the T-3 reliability instruments for New South Wales and Victoria, the Retailer Reliability Obligation will begin in both jurisdictions. This means that liable entities in New South Wales and Victoria will be on notice to enter into sufficient qualifying contracts to cover their share of one-in-two year peak demand throughout the forecast reliability gap.
The National Electricity Rules and the Interim Reliability Instrument Guidelines define the decision making criteria against which the AER must consider the reliability instrument request.
Forecast Reliability gaps in NSW
On 29 August 2024, AEMO also provided notice to the AER confirming that the forecast reliability gaps in New South Wales from 1 December 2025 to 28 February 2026, and in South Australia from 12 January 2026 to 13 March 2026, are no longer forecast to occur. This notice effectively ends the RRO process for those reliability gaps.
Invitation for submissions
The AER invites submissions from interested stakeholders on the reliability instrument requests by 16 September 2024.
Stakeholders may choose to respond to both instrument requests in one submission.
Written submissions or requests to make a submission via alternative methods should be emailed to rro
aer [dot] gov [dot] au (rro[at]aer[dot]gov[dot]au)
Background
The Retailer Reliability Obligation (RRO) is designed to support reliability in the National Electricity Market (NEM). In particular it encourages retailers, and some large energy users, to establish contracts for their share of demand for a prescribed period. If the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) identifies a reliability gap in a region of the NEM as part of its Electricity Statement of Opportunities (ESOO) it must provide the Australian Energy Regulator (AER) with a reliability instrument request.