Pillsbury lawyers represented CMS Enterprises in the purchase of a majority 51% stake in the Aviator Wind project in Texas. Kansai Electric Power Co. has secured the other 48.5% of the 525-MW project.
Once operational, Aviator Wind will be the largest single-phase wind project in the ERCOT area and the largest single-phase, single-site onshore wind project in the United States.
Aviator Wind will be operated by CMS Enterprises, a subsidiary of CMS Energy that develops, owns and operates utility-scale renewable energy facilities, including wind and solar. CMS Enterprises now owns and operates 11 independent power plants and more than 1,800 MW of generation nationwide.
Two large corporations, McDonald’s Corporation and Facebook, have Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) for the vast majority of the off-take produced by the Aviator wind farm.
“Facebook and McDonald’s join a growing roster of CMS Enterprises customers that have access to the full spectrum of energy products and services that we provide under one roof,” said Richard Mukhtar, president of CMS Enterprises.
“This transaction is a great example of collaboration with the Pillsbury team working together with the various stakeholders, including the Ares Management Corp.’s Infrastructure and Power division, Kansai Electric Power Co., Inc., Apex Clean Energy and Berkshire Hathaway Inc. teams to achieve a great result for our respective clients,” said Pillsbury’s Energy/Infrastructure/Projects partner Mona E. Dajani. “We look forward to continuing to represent CMS and our other clients in similar transactions in both domestic and international markets.”
News item from Pillsbury
Filed Under: News, Projects