October 12, 2018 — When the news was announced this past week that Danish company Ørsted — billed as the largest owner and developer of wind farms in the world — was taking ownership of Deepwater Wind, Deepwater Wind Chief Executive Officer Jeff Grybowski was asked by The Block Island Times what, if anything, that change of ownership meant for the island and its wind farm.
“The project will continue to operate as it always has. Folks should know that. Maybe some people do, but maybe most don’t know, that Ørsted is the pioneer in the off-shore wind industry. They are the clear global leader. They built the first offshore wind farm in 1991 in Denmark. They have over 1,200 turbines in operation. They have a world-class record of successful, well-run, safe projects. You can’t be in better hands,” he said. Grybowski described former owners, D.E. Shaw, as an “investment firm,” while calling Ørsted a company that “overwhelmingly runs more offshore wind than anyone in the world.” Grybowski has been named co-CEO of the new combined company, which still has to go through a regulatory process to receive final approval.
When asked how this will impact the ownership and maintenance needed for both the Deepwater Wind cable, which connects the turbines to the island, and the National Grid cable, which connects the island to the mainland — both of which had unexpected exposure issues this past summer — Grybowski said “nothing in terms of the relationship will change.”
According to the press release issued by Deepwater Wind on Monday, Oct. 8, Ørsted “plans to grow Deepwater Wind’s current Rhode Island presence in the coming years, making Providence and Boston the two major hubs of the company’s U.S. offshore wind activities.”
When asked to elaborate, Grybowski said, “The plan for the combined company will be to have offices in Providence and Boston and we’ll merge the two teams together, grow our presence for the next series of projects. We have three separate projects going: South Fork project in Long Island, Revolution Wind for Rhode Island and Connecticut” — the large offshore wind project consisting of 50 turbines that was originally called Deepwater One — “and the Skipjack project for Maryland. Ørsted is also getting ready to build off the coast of Virginia. Providence will be one of the major hubs of all that activity.”