Spanish independent power producer Grenergy has sealed a landmark 1 terawatt-hour (TWh) annual night-time power purchase agreement (PPA) for its Elena battery energy storage system (BESS) in Chile, marking the largest-volume PPA the firm has ever executed.
Unveiled June 30, the 15-year long-term PPA will deliver 1 TWh of power each year from the Elena BESS, with power supply set to launch between July and October 2026. Currently operating with a 3.5 gigawatt-hour (GWh) storage capacity, the Elena facility has a confirmed expansion plan to double its capacity to 7 GWh.
Sited in Chile’s Antofagasta region, Elena forms a core asset of Grenergy’s Oasis de Atacama integrated complex, a large-scale multi-gigawatt platform combining utility-scale solar photovoltaic (PV) generation and battery storage. The PPA announcement aligns with the project’s official inauguration ceremony, presided over by Chilean President José Antonio Kast Rist. Senior national and regional officials including Energy Minister Ximena Rincón and Minister of Science, Technology, Knowledge and Innovation Ximena Lincolao attended the event.
Grenergy previously outlined long-term targets for Oasis de Atacama: the full complex will host 2.1 gigawatts (GW) of solar PV alongside 14 GWh of battery storage. The integrated setup allows prolonged discharge of stored renewable power and significantly boosts local grid flexibility.
Composed of 624 battery containers and 6,240 battery units, Elena ranks as the biggest battery storage plant across the Americas. Its existing 3.5 GWh storage capacity surpasses the 3,287 megawatt-hour (MWh) battery segment of California’s 2024 Edwards & Sanborn solar-plus-storage scheme.
The deal follows two key supply and asset moves by Grenergy this year. In March, the company placed an order for 2,600 MWh of BESS hardware with Chinese manufacturer BYD for its standalone Central Oasis complex.
Separately in May, rival IPP ContourGlobal brought Chile’s Victor Jara solar-storage asset into commercial operation. Featuring 231 MW solar PV paired with a 200 MW/1.3 GWh BESS, Victor Jara, together with Quillagua 1 and Quillagua 2, was purchased from Grenergy to constitute the initial three development phases of Oasis de Atacama.
