Facebook and Apex Clean Energy Ink 200 MW Wind Power Deal

Apex Clean Energy, an entity owned by Ares Management (NYSE:ARES), signed a power purchase deal with Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) for a wind power project in Texas. With plans to be operational in 2020, the Aviator Wind East project will be the largest single-site wind project in the US. Aviator Wind East accounts for about 200 megawatts (MW) of the 525 MW Aviator Wind project, which is owned by funds managed by Ares Infrastructure and Power. “As part of our goal to support 100 percent of our operations with renewable energy, we want to help drive the energy transition and increase access to wind and solar power around the world,” Urvi Parekh, renewable energy manager at Facebook, said in a press release. For his part, Keith Dearman, co-head of Ares Infrastructure and Power, commented, “Corporate leadership is driving the energy transition and this project fits perfectly with our value-add strategy of investing in clean energy projects.” Facebook plans to reduce its greenhouse gas (GHG) footprint by 75 to 100 percent by the end of 2020. The company states that it stands within the ranks of the top corporate purchasers of renewable energy, with its first renewable energy purchase having taken place in 2013. As of early as 2017, it was powering 51 percent of its operations with renewable energy.