Developer ALLETE Clean Energy, a subsidiary of the Duluth, Minn.-based energy holding company, has acquired a combined 97.5 MW wind generation facility near Lake Benton, Minn., for $47.5 million.
The facility is being purchased from a subsidiary of EDF Renewable Energy. Located in southwest Minnesota in the proximity of other ALLETE Clean Energy-owned wind turbines, the acquired Chanarambie and Viking wind farms consist of 65 GE turbines producing electricity under existing power purchase agreements with Northern States Power.
The wind farm acquisitions come on the heels of several deals transacted by the utility last year.
In January 2014, the company closed on the purchase of three wind farms from AES Corp. The company also signed an option to acquire a fourth wind farm from AES, located in Pennsylvania, in mid-2015.
In November, ALLETE Clean Energy finalized a major development agreement with Montana-Dakota Utilities, a division of MDU Resources Group, which acquired the rights to develop a 107 MW wind farm near Hettinger, N.D., before selling the project to Montana-Dakota for approximately $200 million.
Lastly, in December, the utility's renewable energy subsidiary finalized the acquisition of a Storm Lake, Iowa-based wind farm – adding 108 MW to its renewable energy portfolio.
