Developed by Apex Clean Energy, the onshore wind farm is underpinned by PPAs with Meta and McDonald’s
The Lincoln Land Wind project is made up of 107 turbines. (Credit: Ørsted A/S)
Ørsted has acquired the operating 302MW Lincoln Land Wind project in Illinois, US from funds managed by Ares Management’s Infrastructure and Power strategy for an undisclosed price.
Located in Morgan County, the onshore wind farm had begun commercial operation last week. It was developed by Apex Clean Energy and sold to Ares in February this year.
The Lincoln Land Wind project is fully contracted through power purchase agreements (PPAs) signed last year with Meta (formerly Facebook) and McDonald’s.
Meta and McDonald’s will buy nearly 175MW and 126MW, respectively, of Lincoln Land Wind’s power generating capacity.
Ares infrastructure and power partner and co-head Keith Derman said: “We’re pleased to have reached this agreement with Ørsted, and we believe this demonstrates the continued benefit of a value-add strategy in North American renewable energy.
“We’re proud to have worked with Apex, Meta, McDonald’s, and Morgan County to support their sustainability objectives and bring jobs to the local community.”
Through the acquisition of the Lincoln Land Wind project, Ørsted has forayed into the US midcontinent independent system operator (MISO) market, that covers 15 Midwest and Southern US states.
The acquisition has increased the total US capacity of Ørsted Onshore to more than 4.2GW, which is made up of assets that are either in operation or under construction.
Ørsted senior vice president and onshore chief commercial officer Vishal Kapadia said: “This transaction represents the continued successful execution of our strategy of complementing our robust organic growth with opportunistic acquisitions in attractive new markets.
“The project is of significant scale and benefits from PPAs with Meta and McDonald’s, and we’re excited to be able to support both companies in their decarbonisation journeys.”
Powered by 107 GE 2.82-127 turbines, the Lincoln Land Wind project has enough generating capacity to meet electricity requirements of 102,500 American households.