PROVIDENCE – State officials on Monday joined Orsted U.S. Offshore Wind to celebrate the grand opening of the company’s innovation hub, touting it as the latest effort to make Rhode Island a leader in wind energy.
Orsted’s innovation hub, which the company announced in January, is in the Cambridge Innovation Center coworking space within the Wexford Science & Technology building. The rented space at 225 Dyer St. is intended to serve as the “front door” for the Denmark-based wind developer to meet with supply-chain companies, as well as a launching point for partnerships with new technology, said Thomas Brostrom, Orsted’s North American president and CEO of U.S. Offshore Wind.
State officials emphasized the significance of the developer’s choice to locate its new innovation headquarters in Rhode Island, which is also the first state in the country with an offshore wind farm, off the coast of Block Island. The state has also entered an agreement to purchase 400 megawatts of power from a second wind farm under construction off Martha’s Vineyard. Orsted owns the Block Island Wind Farm, previously owned by Deepwater Wind LLC, and has also partnered with another company to build 85 wind turbines off the coast of Martha’s Vineyard.
“We’re really punching above our weight,” said Gov. Gina M. Raimondo. “This is a burgeoning industry and it’s being born right here in Rhode Island.”
Matthew Morrissey, head of Orsted’s New England market, said the decision to locate the company’s innovation hub in Rhode Island followed an exhaustive search process in which R.I. Commerce Corp. worked to convince the company to locate locally.
Officials noted a recently published report commissioned by Commerce RI which highlights the blue economy and offshore wind as two industries with potential for significant economic growth in the Ocean State.
“For us, Rhode Island has been a perfect partner,” said Brostom, noting the state’s blue economy and “bold leadership” under the governor’s administration.
The partnership also ties in with the governor’s recently announced plans to be 100% powered by renewable energy by 2030.
Orsted already has a presence in Providence, where its headquarters are partially located, in addition to Boston. About 60 employees work out of the company’s Exchange Terrace space – double the number of workers there a year ago, Morrissey said.
Asked why the company chose to locate its innovation hub in a separate space, Morrissey said, “We wanted to be a part of the ecosystem where we will be working. The CIC represents that ecosystem, physically.”
Orsted has rented about 1,000 square feet in the coworking space for its innovation hub, which Morrissey estimated will host about 10 employees per week – a mix of those from local, national and global offices.
Orsted is the eighth wind-energy company to lease space out of the CIC. It plans to partner with CIC to host meetings of entrepreneurs in the offshore wind energy sector, and to offer opportunities for established and startup companies to pitch and test services to Orsted.
Orsted develops, constructs and operates a host of green-energy projects, including onshore and offshore wind, bioenergy plants and other energy products. It employs 6,300 people.
