X-Elio opens Texas solar-storage park supplying BASF chemical facility power

• X-Elio inaugurated the 72-MW Liberty Energy solar park in Texas with co-located storage, delivering contracted power to BASF and strengthening ERCOT’s evening resilience.

Spanish developer X-Elio has cut the ribbon on Liberty Energy, a 72-MW solar project in Texas paired with a co-located battery, under a contract to supply BASF’s nearby operations. The hybrid design reflects where the market is heading: corporate buyers want clean energy that behaves like a product, not just a sunny-day promise. Adding storage turns midday photons into dependable evening megawatt-hours while offering grid-support services when ERCOT needs fast response.

At Liberty, single-axis trackers and high-efficiency modules maximise annual yield; the battery—sized for multi-hour shifting—soaks up surplus at noon and redeploys it during peak pricing windows. Co-location shares a single interconnection and trims round-trip losses compared with standalone assets, simplifying dispatch through a unified plant controller. For BASF, the arrangement locks long-term price visibility and cuts Scope 2 emissions without building behind-the-meter infrastructure.

The project’s commercial structure matters as much as the hardware. Corporate offtake has become a central pillar of Texas build-outs, underwriting financing even as wholesale volatility rises. For lenders, a blue-chip counterparty paired with a standardised hybrid design ticks bankability boxes: proven equipment, repeatable EPC, and ancillary revenue optionality. For X-Elio, operational data from the first year will inform performance-based refinancing and future portfolio decisions across the state.

Community footprint is comparatively light: compact battery containers with fire-safety systems and acoustic screening; construction traffic plans; and vegetation management that favours pollinator-friendly groundcover. With ERCOT’s midday net-load troughs deepening and evening ramps steepening, Liberty arrives as a practical, grid-friendly asset—clean energy on sunny afternoons, flexible capacity after dark.

The takeaway is broader than one site. Texas remains a proving ground for hybrids, where price signals reward assets that can move energy across hours and support frequency in seconds. Liberty’s commissioning shows how corporates, developers, and lenders can stitch those capabilities together into reliable, repeatable projects that serve both industrial loads and the wider system.