The Coordinator of Energy is conducting the Wholesale Electricity Market (WEM) Investment Certainty (WIC) Review, in consultation with the Market Advisory Committee (MAC), under clause 2.2D.1 of the WEM Rules.
The WIC Review is considering five WEM reforms that were announced by the Minister for Energy on 9 May 2023:
- reviewing the Reserve Capacity Price (RCP) curve to determine if it needs to be adjusted to send sharper signals for investment when demand for new capacity is stronger;
- a 10-year RCP guarantee for new technologies, such as long-duration storage;
- a wholesale energy price guarantee for renewable generators, to top up their energy revenues as WEM prices start to decline, in return for them firming up their capacity;
- emission thresholds for existing and new high emission technologies in the WEM; and
- a 10-year exemption from the emission thresholds for existing flexible gas plants that qualify to provide the new flexibility service.
The MAC established a WIC Review Working Group (WICRWG). Papers and detailed minutes of the WICRWG meetings will be published on the WICRWG webpage and the relevant MAC papers and minutes are available on the MAC webpage at Market Advisory Committee.
An initial Consultation Paper set out the findings and proposals regarding Initiatives 1 and 2 and is available below. Stakeholder feedback was invited on the WIC Review proposals that are outlined in this paper. The window for submitting feedback closed at 5:00pm on 15 August 2024 and submissions received are available below.
The WIC Information Paper (Initiatives 1 and 2) set out the Review Outcomes for Initiatives 1 and 2 of the WIC Review, which were subject to public consultation in July 2024. This paper is for information only and is available below.
The WEM Rules implementing the Review Outcomes for Initiatives 1 and 2 of the WIC Review are included in the Wholesale Electricity Market Amendment (RCM Reviews Sequencing) Rules 2025. The Rules were approved by the Minister for Energy on 9 January 2025 and published in the Government Gazette on 14 January 2025.
Exposure Draft of WEM Investment Certainty and RCM Review Amending Rules
EPWA has developed for consultation an Exposure Draft of WEM Investment Certainty and RCM Review Amending Rules to implement the Review Outcomes for Initiatives 1 and 2 of the WIC Review.
This Exposure Draft contains two parts:
- Part 1 contains the draft WEM Amending Rules which implement the review outcomes for Initiatives 1 and 2 of the WIC Review outlined in the Information Paper; and
- Part 2 outlines draft WEM Amending Rules outlining proposed changes to the WEM Amendment (Reserve Capacity Reform) Rules (RCM Reform Rules) to address issues identified by EPWA, in consultation with AEMO, during the re-sequencing of the RCM Reform Rules that require further consultation.
- This includes further changes to the determination of the Individual Reserve Capacity Requirement (IRCR) of Associated Loads that are part of a Demand Side Programme dispatched during an IRCR Interval, which were previously consulted on in the Exposure Draft of the IRCR adjustment for Associated Loads Amending Rules.
The window for submitting feedback closed at 5:00pm on 9 December 2024. Stakeholder feedback has been considered and EPWA’s response to submissions received is available below.
