Danish independent power producer (IPP) European Energy has secured approval for its 1.1GW Upper Calliope solar project in Queensland near Gladstone, Australia.
According to the firm, the project is underpinned by a 25-year power purchase agreement (PPA) with mining and materials group Rio Tinto. Power generated will supply Rio Tinto’s Queensland operations, including aluminium smelting and alumina refining facilities in the Gladstone region.
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The site benefits from proximity to existing transmission infrastructure and a well-established industrial demand base, the company said.
“Securing planning approval materially advances the Upper Calliope project and reduces execution risk,” said Thorvald Spanggaard, executive vice president and head of project development at European Energy.
“Together with the long-term contracted offtake, the project now represents a permitted, utility-scale solar asset with defined revenue characteristics – one of the largest of its kind.”
The firm will now move the project into advanced development, including finalising grid connection, procurement and investment.
In October 2025, the company partially divested a solar and storage project in Latvia to Sampension, one of Denmark’s largest pension funds. The IPP sold 50% of its 111MW Saldus project, pairing 65MW of PV and a 46MW BESS, to the pension fund. European Energy said the divestment would enable it to recycle capital into its pipeline of new projects.
Additionally, European Energy commissioned a 90MW hybrid solar-wind park in Sweden, marking its first hybrid project. Located in Kronoberg county, the Skaramala project combines 39.3MWp of solar PV with 49.6MW of wind capacity.
Skaramala is the first of three hybrid projects planned in Sweden. A second project, Grevekulla, is under construction and will pair 38MW of solar PV with the existing 36MW Grevekulla wind farm, with commissioning expected in 2026.
