Qld solar farm one step closer to target

In partnership with Salesforce, X-ELIO has launched its Blue Grass Solar Farm, located 14 km from Chinchilla in Queensland’s Western Downs.

One of Queensland’s 50 large-scale renewable projects, the 200 MW solar farm will help support the state government’s renewable energy target (QRET) to generate 70% of its energy needs from renewable sources by 2032 and 80% by 2035, a target recently announced as part of the Queensland Energy and Jobs Plan.

Using 375,000 bifacial solar panels and half-cut cells, the farm is designed to deliver 420 GWh green energy annually, offsetting over 320,000 t of CO₂ emissions and powering 80,000 homes across the state.

The project’s construction and grid connection was supported by renewable and transmission specialists, including Gransolar Group (GRS), Ingeteam and Powerlink. It received financial backing from Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC), ING, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC) and already-established long-term support from first-tier offtakers Salesforce, Stanwell Corporation and ZEN Energy.

The Blue Grass Community Support and Benefit Sharing Fund will allocate a percentage of the project’s income to four local community initiatives. The recipients are the Resourcing Country District Instrumental Music Program, which will provide musical instruments to students of over 400 schools throughout the region; the Friends of Illoura Village, which will purchase an accessible bus to transport the elderly and disabled around the local community; the Western Downs Emergency Services Unit, which will establish a Mobile Emergency Operations Centre trailer to support future SES operations in remote locations; and a local parents association, which will oversee the fencing of a park located next to the Warrego Highway.