Good evening,

Rise and shine, X-ELIO’s $215 million Blue Grass solar project in Queensland’s Western Downs, which is backed by private equity giant Brookfield, has hit the auction block.

Street Talk understands the Spanish renewable developer, a 100 per cent Brookfield-owned company, is seeking to part with its interest in the 200-megawatt-peak solar farm and battery project almost four years after the first shovels hit the ground.

Sources said X-ELIO has tapped Azure Capital and Natixis Partners Iberia to drum up interest and oversee a two-stage sale process. Flyers landed in inboxes in April and Street Talk understands the bankers are busy collecting non-binding indicative offers.

Stage two, which is yet to get under way, will see shortlisted parties gain access to due diligence materials, management presentations, site visits and draft transaction documentation. Interested parties were told X-ELIO could retain up to a 20 per cent shareholding in the project.

Advisers are also working through a refinance for the existing solar farm and seeking construction financing for stage one of the battery energy storage system (BESS), parallel to the auction. Stage one will see up to 120 megawatt-hours of capacity completed by the fourth quarter of 2025, while stage two, considered the “expansion phase”, will deliver an additional 176 megawatt-hours by the end of 2026.

Global buyout giant Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co had a 50 per cent stake in X-ELIO, signing a 50:50 joint venture agreement with Brookfield in 2019, and helped fund the Blue Grass project. It divested its stake in X-ELIO to Brookfield Renewable in March 2023.

Read the full story tomorrow and more on the Street Talk page.

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