March 3, 2020 — The construction of more offshore wind farms on the East Coast is on hold as federal regulators reconsider their impacts, but that hasn’t deterred the leading developer in the global industry from opening its second office in Providence.
Orsted U.S. Offshore Wind’s new innovation hub is small, with only two full-time staff members and space for seven other employees of the Danish parent company to cycle through, but Orsted executives say its presence reflects confidence in the future of the American market.
“We are still pretty optimistic,” Thomas Brostrom, president of Orsted’s operations in North America, said in an interview. “We are getting anxious to move on, but nothing to make our hands shake.”
He spoke outside the new office in the Wexford Innovation Center on Monday before the official opening of the work space. In a demonstration of the importance of Orsted to the growth of Rhode Island’s “blue economy” — commercial activities centered around the ocean — Gov. Gina Raimondo joined Brostrom and others at the event.
Offshore wind alone could generate 20,000 supply-chain jobs along the Atlantic coast, said Raimondo, citing one recent report.