NEM Access Standards Package 1 is the AEMC rule, finalised on 22 May 2025 and commencing on 21 August 2025, that rewrote how the technical access standards in Chapter 5 of the National Electricity Rules apply. By default it covers projects that had not received a connection enquiry response from their network service provider by 21 August 2025. The two changes that matter most are that standards now apply by plant type rather than registration category, and that Schedule 5.2 was rewritten with more prescription and less room for negotiation.
For a solar, wind or BESS developer, the generator performance standards (GPS) you negotiate now depend on when your enquiry was answered.
The Rule in Brief
Package 1 at a glance
- Rule change reference: ERC0393, made as Rule No. 6 of 2025
- Requested by AEMO on 4 April 2024, following its review of technical requirements for connection
- Draft determination published 5 December 2024 under the fast-track process
- Final determination and final rule published 22 May 2025
- Commenced 21 August 2025, subject to transitional provisions
- Does not amend the Northern Territory version of the Rules
The AEMC made a "more preferable" final rule, meaning the final text differs from what AEMO originally asked for. Package 2 (ERC0394), which deals mainly with large loads, was split off and runs on its own timeline.
Applicability: Which Projects Package 1 Covers
The cut-off is the connection enquiry response, not the application, the offer or the connection agreement.
- No enquiry response by 21 August 2025. The new access standards apply by default. Any project that started its enquiry after that date is on the new rules.
- Enquiry response received before 21 August 2025. The project can continue on the old access standards, depending on where it sits in the process.
- Opting in. A connection applicant can notify its network service provider that it wants to apply all or some of the new access standards.
If an applicant opts in to all of the new standards, the network service provider must provide the relevant technical requirements under clause 5.3.3(b1) within 30 days of the notice. Those new standards then become the basis for negotiating access standards and for AEMO's advice under clause 5.3.4A. If an applicant wants a mix of old and new standards, the transitional rule (rule 11.186.4) sets out how the network service provider and AEMO decide whether to accept the combination.
Check this first on any project with an enquiry lodged in mid-2025. A late discovery can mean re-running studies.
Should you opt in?
There is no universal answer. Opting in can make sense when the new drafting removes an ambiguity that would otherwise be argued through negotiation, or when the plant type (a hybrid, or a site with a synchronous condenser) fits the new structure better. Staying on the old standards can make sense when studies are well advanced and the old basis is already agreed in principle. A selective mix is allowed, but it adds an approval step, so it needs a clear technical reason.
What Changed, Schedule by Schedule
The headline change is structural. Before Package 1, which standards applied depended partly on how the operator was registered. Now they depend on what the plant is. The logic is that a synchronous condenser should face the same requirements whether a TNSP or a generator builds it.
| Area | Before Package 1 | After Package 1 | Engineering consequence |
|---|---|---|---|
| Basis of application | Largely by registration category | By plant type, with new definitions | Classify the plant early. Hybrids and co-located loads need care |
| Schedule 5.2 | Generating systems | Generating systems, integrated resource systems and synchronous condensers | One schedule covers solar, wind, BESS, hybrids and standalone syncons |
| Schedule 5.3 | Loads (customer connections) | Retitled "Technical connection requirements for loads" and re-scoped to plant that consumes electricity, other than Schedule 5.2 and 5.3a plant | Large loads were left largely for Package 2 |
| HVDC | Most HVDC links sat outside the access standards framework | Schedule 5.3a, "Technical connection requirements for high voltage direct current networks", covering HVDC systems with a power transfer capability of 5 MW or more | Mostly relevant to interconnector and TNSP projects |
| Synchronous condensers | Treated inconsistently depending on owner | Brought into Schedule 5.2 as plant in their own right | Syncons for system strength remediation now carry their own standards |
| Drafting of technical standards | More open to interpretation | More prescriptive, intended to reduce negotiation | Fewer arguments about meaning, less latitude to negotiate |
The rule also made technical amendments to individual standards within Schedule 5.2. We have deliberately not listed those parameter by parameter here. The changes are detailed, they interact with each other, and a secondhand summary of a clause is a poor basis for a design decision. If your project is on the new standards, read the final rule markup for each S5.2.5 clause you intend to negotiate, and check it against AEMO's current guidelines.
What It Means for Inverter and Plant Controller Specification
Package 1 does not change the physics, but it changes what you write into a procurement specification.
Name the rule version in the specification
Inverter and power plant controller (PPC) specifications should state which version of Schedule 5.2 the plant must comply with, and at which access standard level for each clause. "Compliant with NER S5.2.5" is no longer specific enough when two versions are live in the market.
Ask OEMs for evidence against the new drafting
Vendors' compliance statements and model packages are often prepared against a template. Ask for confirmation that the performance claims, settings ranges and models address the post-August 2025 drafting where your project is on the new rules. A firmware or control mode that was fine under the old wording may need a different setting under the new one.
Hybrids and integrated resource systems
Solar plus BESS, or a site with significant auxiliary load, is where plant-type classification earns its keep. The integrated resource system concept, which has been in the Rules since mid-2024, now sits inside the same Schedule 5.2 as generators and syncons. Confirm early how each component is classified, because it changes which standards attach to the battery, the PV and the PPC that coordinates them.
Synchronous condensers
If the project is self-remediating system strength with a synchronous condenser rather than paying the system strength charge, the condenser itself now has defined access standards. Specify it, model it and test it as connected plant, not as an accessory.
What It Means for Studies and Negotiation
Studies
The study scope itself (load flow, fault level, small-signal and large-disturbance stability, and the PSS/E and PSCAD models behind them) does not shrink. What changes is the pass criterion each study is measured against. Before anyone runs a case, the study plan should record:
- which version of the access standards applies, and the basis for that conclusion
- for each clause, whether the target is the automatic or a negotiated access standard
- any clauses where an opt-in or a mix of old and new standards is proposed
Projects can lose weeks when studies are run to one basis and the network service provider assesses them against another. Our guide to steady-state and dynamic studies explains how each study feeds the GPS.
Negotiation
The intent of the rewrite is fewer negotiated access standards and less back-and-forth with AEMO and the network service provider. In practice:
- Where the new drafting is clearer, there should be less room to argue about what a clause means, which helps projects meeting the automatic standard.
- Where a project needs a negotiated standard, the justification still has to show no adverse effect on power system security and quality of supply. Package 1 did not remove that test.
- The GPS proposal, the R1 model package and the later R2 validation all have to be consistent with the same version of the standards.
Our article on common GPS application pitfalls covers the documentation side, and AEMO Generator Performance Standards covers the automatic, negotiated and minimum levels in more detail.
Package 2 in One Paragraph
Package 2 (ERC0394) was split from the original AEMO request and deals mainly with large loads, especially data centres and other large inverter-based loads. The AEMC's draft determination of 12 March 2026 proposed defining a large inverter-based load in the Rules for the first time, at 30 MW (the working figure had been 5 MW), with tiers below 30 MW, 30 to 100 MW, and 100 MW and above. The final determination was targeted for 29 October 2026 but had not been published as at 6 November 2026. Our article on access standards for large inverter-based loads covers the detail. For generators the practical overlap is limited, but co-located loads behind a generator connection point may be caught, so watch the final rule.
Check Your Project Against the New Standards
If your project's enquiry was answered around August 2025, or you are considering opting in to some of the new standards, the access standard basis is worth settling before procurement and studies go further. ElectraGlobe prepares GPS proposals, runs the supporting PSS/E and PSCAD studies, and works through negotiations with AEMO and network service providers.
See our AEMO GPS applications service, or contact us for a review of which standards apply to your connection.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which projects does Package 1 apply to?
By default, it applies to projects that had not received a connection enquiry response from their network service provider by 21 August 2025. Projects that had received a response can generally continue on the old access standards, depending on their stage in the process. They can also opt in to all or some of the new standards by notifying their network service provider.
What is ERC0393?
ERC0393 is the AEMC's reference for the "Improving the NEM access standards, Package 1" rule change. It was requested by AEMO in April 2024, finalised on 22 May 2025 and made as Rule No. 6 of 2025. It commenced on 21 August 2025.
Do existing GPS agreements need to change?
No. Package 1 applies to new connections and connection alterations, so an operating plant with an agreed GPS does not have to renegotiate because of the rule change. If you alter the plant, for example by adding a battery, check under the transitional provisions which standards apply to the change.
How does Package 2 differ from Package 1?
Package 1 restructured how the access standards apply and rewrote the generator, integrated resource system and synchronous condenser standards in Schedule 5.2. Package 2 (ERC0394) focuses on large loads, particularly data centres and other large inverter-based loads. Its March 2026 draft proposed a 30 MW threshold with three tiers, and no final rule had been published as at 6 November 2026.