US-based power utility Southern Company will sell the 720 MW Mankato Energy Center located in Minnesota (United States) to the US utility holding Xcel Energy for a total consideration of US$650m, in order to consolidate its balance sheet. The sale is expected to be completed by mid-2019 and comes two years after Southern Energy acquired the power plant from Calpine, the original developer of the asset.
The combined-cycle power generation facility includes two gas-fired units with a combined capacity of 375 MW already in operation and one 345 MW unit in construction earmarked for commissioning in June 2019. When complete, the power plant will total 720 MW of power generation capacity. The produced electricity is sold to the US utility Northern States Power under the framework of 20-year power purchase agreements (PPAs), of which two started in 2006, while the remaining one will begin once the third unit is commissioned.