Engie North America has acquired a wind farm in South Dakota from Apex Clean Energy.
In addition, Engie has entered into a power purchase agreement with Xcel Energy for all the capacity of the 151.2MW Dakota Range 3 project.
Engie North America head of US wind development Matt Riley said: “Dakota Range 3 continues Engie’s significant expansion in the utility-scale renewable market via both greenfield development and acquisition.
“We look forward to completing development of the project with Apex by the summer of 2019, and to serving Xcel Energy, one of the most ambitious investors in renewable energy of any utility in the country”.
Dakota Range 3 will generate annual payments to landowners under land easements, as well as create local jobs during construction and commercial operation.
Apex Clean Energy chief executive Mark Goodwin said: “Energy trends – including the falling cost of renewables and increased awareness around cutting emissions – are growing the market for the clean energy facilities and services that Apex delivers.
“Dakota Range 3 demonstrates Apex’s flexibility in completing transactions at every stage of the project life cycle, and we’re proud to expand our track record of partnering with forward-looking energy companies like Engie and Xcel”.
Excel Energy president Chris Clark said: “We are pleased to once again work with Apex, and now Engie, to bring cost-effective renewable energy to our customers.
“We have a clean energy strategy to nearly double the amount of wind energy on our system in the Upper Midwest by 2022 and this investment in Dakota Range 3 gets us closer to that goal”.