Farmland Signs Deal With Iberdrola for Amazon Wind Farm

By Anca Gagiuc, Associate Editor

Iberdrola Renewables Wind Farm

Real estate company Farmland Partners seeks opportunities to expand into power generation after signing a deal with Iberdrola Renewables that will provide green energy to Amazon. Farmland announced that two of its farms in North Carolina will become a portion of the 208MW Amazon Wind Farm US East. Iberdrola will build, own, and operate the farm.

“This and other renewable energy projects under consideration are examples of how we pursue opportunities to increase rents on our land by finding additional revenue sources beyond traditional farm leases,” Paul Pittman, CEO of Farmland Partners, said in a prepared statement.

The 28-acre wind farm, located in Perquimans and Pasquotank counties, will deliver power to the electrical grid that supplies current and future Amazon Web Services Cloud data centers.

The land, currently leased to a local farmer for approximately $276 per acre, will be leased to Iberdrola for approximately $2,600 per acre over a 25-year lease term, increasing the total rent across the 1,839 acres of leasable farmland encompassing these two farms by approximately 13 percent.

“Renewable energy projects have the potential to increase the returns we generate from our farm holdings. We are highlighting this transaction for investors because it is illustrative of the upside opportunities that our stockholders may derive from our ownership of farmland,” added Pittman.

Farmland announced it also has or is considering alternative revenue stream projects such as solar power leases, power line easements, pipeline easements, wind power easements, recreational leases, flyover rights, and road projects.

Image courtesy of Iberdrola Renewables’ Facebook Page