Overseeing firming infrastructure's greenhouse gas emissions obligations

Firming infrastructure facilities have the capacity to deliver electricity to the market when demand is high or when renewable energy is not meeting demand.

Operators have the option to deliver electricity to the grid under Long Term Energy Service Agreements.

The NSW Electricity Infrastructure Roadmap aims to make the NSW electricity grid cheaper, cleaner, and more reliable. It includes investing in ‘firming infrastructure’ to ensure reliability of the electricity grid.

We will help ensure firming infrastructure operators in NSW meet their greenhouse gas emissions intensity obligations by undertaking the functions set out in Part 12 of the Electricity Infrastructure Investment Regulation 2021. Our role is to determine:

  • the greenhouse gas intensity of NSW electricity generators (in total)
  • the greenhouse gas intensity of each firming infrastructure facility in NSW
  • whether these operators have satisfied their offset obligations, and
  • whether these operators need to surrender carbon credits to meet their obligations.

View our greenhouse gas emission intensity reporting.

We must report our findings to the Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal.

Emissions intensity

Emissions intensity is the amount of scope 1 greenhouse gas emissions released per unit of electricity supplied to the grid.

A facility that produces renewable energy will have a very low, or zero emissions intensity, while those using fossil fuels will be higher.

Emissions intensity requirements

Firming infrastructure operators that hold a Long-Term Energy Service Agreement must meet emissions intensity requirements under the Regulation:

  • Before 2036, their annual emissions intensity must be lower than the emissions intensity of all NSW generators supplying to the grid each year.
  • From 1 January 2036, each firming infrastructure facility must achieve net zero for their scope 1 emissions annually.

We will calculate the amount of Australian Carbon Credit Units (sourced from NSW providers) that firming infrastructure operators may need to surrender to achieve their emissions intensity obligations.

What we are doing

We have prepared a guideline (PDF 1MB) that sets out more information about how we will exercise our functions and the obligations of firming infrastructure operators.

Frequently asked questions

Read the frequently asked questions and their answers to find out more about firming infrastructure, the EPA’s role and firming infrastructure obligations.