07/28/2021

WEC Energy Group to acquire 90% ownership of Sapphire Sky Wind Energy Center

WEC Energy Group today announced that the company has agreed to acquire a 90% ownership interest in the Sapphire Sky Wind Energy Center. Located in McLean County, Illinois, the project is being developed by Invenergy — a leading global developer and operator of sustainable energy solutions.

Image: Pixabay

The Sapphire Sky site will consist of 64 wind turbines with a combined capacity of 250 megawatts. Commercial operation is expected by the end of 2022.

Sapphire Sky will generate renewable energy that will be sold under a long-term power purchase agreement with a Fortune 100 global, high-tech company.

WEC Energy Group's investment is expected to total $412 million for the 90% ownership interest. With this project, the company's Infrastructure segment has planned investments in eight major wind farms totaling more than 1.5 gigawatts of capacity.

"The Sapphire Sky project is the latest step forward in our comprehensive plan to accelerate the development of affordable, reliable and clean energy. This project will help meet the energy needs of one of the largest high-tech companies in the world and continue to grow earnings from our portfolio of renewable assets," said Gale Klappa, executive chairman.

The transaction is subject to receiving all necessary regulatory approvals.

WEC Energy Group (NYSE: WEC), based in Milwaukee, is one of the nation's premier energy companies, serving 4.6 million customers in Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan and Minnesota.

The company's principal utilities are We Energies, Wisconsin Public Service, Peoples Gas, North Shore Gas, Michigan Gas Utilities, Minnesota Energy Resources and Upper Michigan Energy Resources. Another major subsidiary, We Power, designs, builds and owns electric generating plants. In addition, WEC Infrastructure LLC owns a growing fleet of renewable generation facilities in the Midwest.

WEC Energy Group (wecenergygroup.com) is a Fortune 500 company and a component of the S&P 500. The company has approximately 41,000 stockholders of record, 7,200 employees and more than $37 billion of assets.