GRS named as EPC of X-Elio’s 200 MW Blue Grass Solar Farm

Spanish solar companies are passing business to each other in Australia like a football between Xavi and Iniesta. X-Elio has announced fellow Spanish company GRS as the EPC for its big entry into the Australian market, the 200 MW Blue Grass Solar Farm in Queensland’s Western Downs.

Image: GRS

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A flotilla of the Spanish Armada of solar and energy storage companies sailing about the Australian market has landed in Chinchilla, Queensland (QLD), where GRS has been signed by fellow Iberian company X-Elio as the Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) for its 200 MW Blue Grass Solar Farm. 

X-Elio announced its arrival on Australian shores in October when it announced a “landmark” 10-year virtual power purchase agreement (VPPA) for the output of the Blue Grass Solar Farm with Silicon Valley software giant Salesforce. 

The project, which has an expected completion date in late 2021, will be the largest in X-Elio’s portfolio with its 130,000 solar modules generating 420 GWh annually. That’s enough clean energy to power approximately 80,000 QLD homes and offset 320,000 tonnes of CO2. 

GRS’s Managing Director in Australia, Carlos López, said the company is proud and eager to work with X-Elio on such an important project. “We are growing at a good pace in the country,” continued López, “working hard to be part of the sustainability goals set in the Australian renewable calendar and to demonstrate that we are a great partner to carry out projects in a timely manner. 2021 is about to be a great year for GRS in Australia.” 

Indeed, GRS already has a portfolio of 550 MW awarded in Australia with the recent energisation of the Molong Solar Farm marking its fifth project. 

Of course, despite its size, the project will not be lonely in the Western Downs region of QLD, which is also set to host Australia’s largest solar farm in the form of the 460 MW Western Downs Green Power Hub. 

X-Elio currently has 25 solar plants in operation in 13 countries, including the 42 MW Marcovia solar farm in Honduras and the Guanajuato solar farm in Mexico. The company, co-owned by US investment firms Brookfield and KKR, is also developing the Forest Glen(120MW) and Wunghnu (80MW) solar farms in New South Wales and Victoria respectively.

López said the construction will generate 400 jobs.

 

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