Kansai Electric Power has entered into an agreement through its subsidiary, KPIC USA LLC, to acquire a 48.5% interest in Aviator Wind Holdings LLC, owned by funds managed by Ares Management Corp.’s Infrastructure and Power strategy.
The agreement gives Kansai a 48.5% indirect ownership stake in Aviator Wind, the project company based in Texas.
This is Kansai’s first renewable energy and onshore wind farm project in the U.S. Aviator marks Kansai’s fifth overseas wind power project, following the Evalair onshore project in Ireland, the Triton Knoll and Moray East offshore projects in the U.K. and the Piiparinmäki in Finland.
The project site is located in central Texas, approximately 550 km northwest of Houston. Aviator is expected to utilize 191 wind turbines that will generate a total power output of approximately 525 MW.
Commercial operation is targeted for August. Upon the start of commercial operation, Aviator will be the largest single-phase wind project in ERCOT and the largest single-phase, single-site wind project in the U.S.
