Commercial, Distributed Generation, Wind - November 24, 2021
Meta and McDonald’s PPAs Facilitate Illinois Wind Farm
Fully contracted PPAs with Meta, formerly Facebook, and McDonald’s Corporation have allowed Ørsted to acquire Lincoln Land Wind, a 302 MW onshore wind farm in Morgan County, Illinois.
Lincoln Land Wind began operating commercially on Nov. 17. Meta and McDonald’s both signed long-term fixed-price PPAs in 2020 to purchase approximately 175 MW and 126 MW, respectively, of clean power output from Lincoln Land Wind. Meta is constructing a new data centre in DeKalb, Illinois.
The acquisition means the Danish wind and solar farm developer and operator enters the US Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO) market, which covers 15 states in the Midwest and south. Lincoln Land Wind was acquired from funds managed by Ares Management Corporation’s Infrastructure and Power strategy.
“As a Chicago resident, McDonald’s is incredibly excited to be a part of a project in southern Illinois and help generate renewable energy close to home,” said Emma Cox, global renewable energy lead at McDonald’s. “This project represents another important step towards our ambitious climate action goals and brings to life our values around supporting the communities we serve.”
“I’m delighted that we’re acquiring Lincoln Land Wind and that we continue to expand our footprint in the U.S.,” said Vishal Kapadia, senior vice president and chief commercial officer of Ørsted Onshore, in a statement. “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.”
Ørsted acquired Lincoln Land Wind from Ares, which purchased the project from developer and construction manager Apex Clean Energy. The acquisition of Lincoln Land Wind brings Ørsted Onshore’s total U.S. capacity to over 4,200 MW in operation and under construction.
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