Exus Renewables completes 190MW solar project in Rio Rancho

RIO RANCHO —Continuing to build on New Mexico’s renewable energy and utility ecosystem, Exus Renewables North America has completed construction on a 1,000-acre solar and battery storage site in Rio Rancho.

The $312 million TAG Solar + Storage site is a 190-megawatt facility combining 140 megawatts of solar power with 50 megawatts of battery storage. Energy generated will be connected to Public Service Company of New Mexico’s grid and used to power Meta’s data center in Los Lunas, said Brian Reindl, a vice president of development with Exus.

“As that data center continues to grow, in addition to PNM’s renewable energy goals, Meta has its own renewable energy goals. This project helps them meet those goals,” Reindl said.

Exus, a company that owns, develops and manages utility scale energy projects, partnered with Gridworks, an Albuquerque-based company focused on solar and energy storage solutions, on the project. Gridworks, along with workforce agencies, helped train and employ New Mexicans during development. Reindl said the partnership has been great so far, and that the company plans to work with the group in the future.

Gridworks CEO Bob Bellemare joined the company in 2023 after holding top roles at Array Technologies, an Albuquerque-based solar tracking manufacturer that also aided in the site’s development. He said projects like this are challenging, and it takes everybody coming together to make it happen.

“We’re now in eight states, we’re bidding projects in 35 states — this is an Albuquerque-based company. We’re really proud of our team,” Bellemare said. “We like to say, ‘build it like you own it,’ and I think if you were out here looking at it, you would feel that pride.”

The project, which began last year and is one of the largest utility-scale energy storage installations in the region, supported over 250 temporary jobs during construction. Now complete, the site will contribute over $17 million through tax revenue to the county and local school districts over the next 30 years, according to a news release.

Reindl said Exus currently has nine operating solar projects throughout New Mexico in Sandoval, Bernalillo, Torrance and Valencia counties, as RRwell as near Deming.

“New Mexico’s got a renewable portfolio standard that all New Mexico-based industry utilities need to be 100% renewable by 2045. PNM has set a more aggressive goal of 2040,” Reindl said. “In order to achieve that, some of these dynamic but still clean energy resources are going to be critical to support those goals.”