Ørsted to acquire Mars-contracted wind farm in Illinois

May 16 (Renewables Now) - Danish clean energy group Ørsted A/S (CPH:ORSTED) has entered into an agreement to buy the 121-MW Ford County Wind power plant in the US state of Illinois from funds managed by Ares Management Corp’s (NYSE:ARES) Infrastructure Opportunities strategy.

The particular onshore wind farm is located in Midwest Independent System Operator’s (MISO) territory and is contracted via power purchase agreements (PPAs) with Mars Inc, Silgan Containers and BHJ USA. It has been operational since March.

Subject to regulatory clearance, the acquisition is seen to close later in 2022. It will expand Ørsted Onshore’s operational and under-construction capacity in the US to about 4.4 GW.

Last year, Ørsted bought the 302-MW Lincoln Land Wind facility in Illinois from Ares.