Ørsted acquires Lincoln Land Wind in Illinois to expand its US operations

Denmark/USA – Ørsted announced the acquisition of Lincoln Land Wind, a 302 MW onshore wind farm in Morgan County, Illinois, from Ares Management Corporation’s Infrastructure and Power strategy (‘Ares’).

Ørsted enters the US MISO market, which includes 15 states in the Midwest and South, with the acquisition of the 302 MW operational wind farm. Lincoln Land Wind is fully contracted with Meta, previously Facebook, and McDonald’s Corporation (‘McDonald’s’). On November 17, Lincoln Land Wind began commercial operations.

Ørsted acquired the wind project from Ares, who acquired it from developer and construction manager Apex Clean Energy.

Meta and McDonald’s have signed long-term fixed-price power purchase agreements (PPAs) to purchase about 175 MW and 126 MW of clean energy output from Lincoln Land Wind, respectively.

McDonald’s and Meta signed into PPAs in 2020, and they are effective as of COD.

Ørsted Onshore’s target is to reach 17.5 GW in 2030 and to add roughly 1.5 GW of capacity every year. With the acquisition of Lincoln Land Wind, Ørsted Onshore’s total capacity in the United States now exceeds 4,200 MW in operation or under development.