Ørsted buys 302-MW wind farm in Illinois

Danish clean energy group Ørsted A/S (CPH:ORSTED) today said it has acquired the 302-MW Lincoln Land Wind farm in Illinois, broadening its operational footprint in the US.

The wind park, which is located in Morgan County and started commercial operation last week, was purchased from funds managed by Ares Management Corp (NYSE:ARES).

Meta Platforms Inc (NASDAQ:FB), previously Facebook Inc, and McDonald's Corp (NYSE:MCD) contracted 175-MW and 126-MW portions of the wind farm, respectively, under under long-term fixed-price power purchase agreements (PPAs), signed in 2020.

The previous owner, Ares, bought the Lincoln Land Wind project from developer Apex Clean Energy earlier this year. In October, funds managed by Ares, meanwhile, agreed to acquire a controlling interest in Apex Clean Energy.

Ørsted in August increased its full-year gross investment guidance in part because of the pending acquisition of the Lincoln Land Wind project.

The wind farm marks Ørsted’s entry into the MISO market, which encompasses 15 states in the Midwest and South parts of the US.

“This transaction represents the continued successful execution of our strategy of complementing our robust organic growth with opportunistic acquisitions in attractive new markets,” said Vishal Kapadia, senior vice president and chief commercial officer in Ørsted Onshore.

Ørsted’s onshore business aims to reach 17.5 GW of capacity in 2030, adding about 1.5 GW a year. Including Lincoln Land Wind, Ørsted Onshore has more than 4.2 GW in operation and under construction in the US.

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