“The clean energy industry has long recognized Facebook as a leader,” said Mark Goodwin, Apex Clean Energy president and CEO. “In its early commitment to utilizing 100% renewable energy, and now its continuing work to fulfill that pledge, Facebook has led from the front of the pack. Apex has a strong track record in enabling corporate clean energy procurement, and we’re excited that the Lincoln Land Wind PPA results in Facebook becoming our largest partner to date.”
Head of Renewable Energy at Facebook, Urvi Parekh, said, “We are thrilled to partner with Apex once again to bring an additional 170 MW of new renewable energy to the grid.”
The deal marks Apex’s third renewable transaction with Facebook in the past year. In 2019, Facebook signed a 61.6 MW PPA with Altavista Solar, Apex’s largest solar project to date, and a 200 MW PPA with Aviator Wind East, which will be part of the largest single-phase, single-site wind project in the United States when it begins commercial operations in the coming months. The PPA with Lincoln Land Wind will help support the tech company’s operations in the region.
The remaining 130 MW from Lincoln Land Wind will be sold to another corporate offtaker to be announced at a later date.
The project, located in Morgan County, Ill., will generate approximately $65 million in local tax revenue, $90 million in payments to landowners, nearly 400 full-time local jobs during construction, and nine long-term local operations positions. Lincoln Land Wind is expected to begin operations in 2021.
PHOTO: A red-tailed hawk hunts near turbines at the Wild Horse wind facility in central Washington State. Puget Sound Energy
