The Clean Energy Regulator (CER) is pleased to announce the Emissions Reduction Fund’s 15th Auction will be held on 29 and 30 March 2023.
Holding the next ERF auction early in 2023 recognises that this is a dynamic time for Australia’s carbon market and there are a number of relevant policy processes in train, including:
- the Independent Review of ACCUs led by Professor Chubb
- consultations on Safeguard Mechanism reform
- a National Voluntary Biodiversity Market.
An auction in March next year will allow time for these processes to be further advanced. With this announcement, CER aims to give certainty to the market as to when the next round of government purchasing will occur.
As with Auction 14, only Optional Delivery contracts will be offered for Auction 15. After Optional Delivery contracts were introduced in March 2020, there has been little demand for Fixed Delivery contracts.
An Optional Delivery contract provides the right, but not the obligation, to sell carbon abatement to the Commonwealth at an agreed price within a set time. It allows contract holders to better manage their price and supply risks with a view to encourage more carbon abatement projects as a result. Optional Delivery contracts may be used in negotiations with lenders or other parties to demonstrate what the Commonwealth will pay for abatement from a specified project, with no contractual barrier to seeking more lucrative contracts from other buyers.
Key dates
The key dates for ERF Auction 15 are detailed below:
| Events | Date* |
|---|---|
| Project registration application deadline | Project registration application deadline Tuesday 14 February 2023 (11:59 pm AEDT)* |
| Auction qualification application deadline | Tuesday 21 February 2023 (11:59 pm AEDT)* |
| Auction registration application deadline | Wednesday 22 March 2023 (11:59 pm AEDT)* |
| Closing time for declaration of eligible projects | Wednesday 22 March 2023 (11:59 pm AEDT)* |
| Auction window | Wednesday 29 March 2023 (12:01 am AEDT)*
to Thursday 30 March 2023 (5:00 pm AEDT)* |
* All times are given as local time in the Australian Capital Territory.
Start preparing for Auction 15 now
Auction Guidelines will be released in late 2022 and will be available on our website.
If you do not yet have a registered project and are interested in participating in Auction 15, now is your chance.
You should register your project as soon as possible by submitting a project registration application. We encourage you to submit your application early to ensure that any questions are answered, or any additional information required can be addressed well before the auction.
The final date for project registration will be Wednesday 22 March 2023. Registrations made after this point will not be permitted to participate in Auction 15.
What's next?
Please read the relevant project methodology to help you with your project registration. You can use our interactive questionnaire to find out if your project is eligible to participate in the ERF.
Find more information on how you can participate in the next auction or contact us.