It's Official, Orsted Acquires Deepwater Wind
Orsted, Denmark's largest energy company and the world's largest offshore wind developer, has completed the acquisition of Deepwater Wind from the D.E. Shaw Group. The $510 million transaction was announced last month.
As a combined organization, Orsted U.S. Offshore Wind becomes the leading American offshore wind platform, with a goal of delivering renewable energy to the eight states on the East Coast from Massachusetts to Virginia that have committed to a combined 10 gigawatts of offshore wind by 2030.
The acquisition comes as Deepwater Wind's proposed South Fork Wind Farm, to be constructed approximately 35 miles from Montauk, is undergoing review by federal and state agencies, and the East Hampton Town Board and trustees ponder whether to grant easements or leases allowing the 15-turbine wind farm's transmission cable to make landfall at the ocean beach at the end of Beach Lane in Wainscott, the company's preferred site. From there it would be buried along a route to the Long Island Power Authority substation near Cove Hollow Road in East Hampton.
The federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management held a public scoping session in Amagansett on Monday, at which members of the public asked questions and made comments. The wind farm is opposed by commercial fishermen who have raised multiple concerns about its impact on navigability, fish migration patterns, and the electromagnetic field emanating from the transmission cable. Others have expressed concern about the wind farm's impact on whales and other marine life, as well as birds and bats. Questions have also been raised about the wind farm's effect on electricity rates paid by LIPA's customers.
Orsted U.S. Offshore Wind will be based in Boston and Providence, R.I. The company will begin integration over the coming weeks and months. Its Amagansett office will remain, as will all of its staff on the South Fork, Jeffrey Grybowski, co-chief executive of the newly renamed company, told The Star last month.
"We have created a world-class team, with both deep experience building large-scale offshore wind projects and intimate knowledge of the U.S. markets," Thomas Brostrom, Orsted U.S. Offshore Wind's chief executive officer, said in a statement issued on Thursday. "The approval of this deal signals the importance of growing the U.S. offshore wind industry. We are moving quickly to integrate the two U.S. organizations so we can deliver large-scale clean energy projects as soon as possible. We look forward to continuing Deepwater Wind's first-class work along the Eastern Seaboard and taking the U.S. market to the next level."
"It is very exciting for two pioneering companies to join forces to create the clear leader in the U.S. offshore wind market," Mr. Grybowski said in a statement. "Our teams will now begin to merge together to advance our existing projects and to prepare for our next round of projects for the East Coast. We have very big plans for the U.S."