Ørsted buys US offshore wind developer Deepwater Wind for $510M

Danish energy firm Ørsted has expanded its US business with the acquisition of an offshore wind developer for $510M (€443.3m).

Ørsted, which entered the US in 2015, said it has entered into an agreement with the DE Shaw Group to buy Rhode Island-based Deepwater Wind.

The two companies’ offshore wind assets and organisations will be merged into a US offshore wind platform.

Deepwater Wind’s portfolio has a total potential capacity of around 3.3GW. Ørsted’s current US offshore wind portfolio has a total capacity of around 5.5GW.

Martin Neubert, the CEO of offshore wind at Ørsted, said: “Today’s announcement consolidates Ørsted’s position as the global market leader in offshore wind with a strong foothold across Europe, North America and Asia-Pacific.”

Thomas Brostrøm, CEO of Ørsted’s US offshore wind and president of Ørsted North America, said: “Deepwater Wind has done a fantastic job as a first-mover in US offshore wind, and I look forward to joining and integrating the two US organizations.”

Bryan R. Martin, managing director of DE Shaw & Co., said: “I am deeply grateful to the many people who have made Deepwater Wind so successful and I’m excited to see what the largest and most innovative offshore wind company in the US can do when it’s merged with the largest and most successful offshore wind company in the world.”

Jeffrey Grybowski, CEO of Deepwater Wind, said: “Ørsted is one of the world’s great clean energy companies and real pioneers in the offshore wind sector. We could not be more pleased with this combination, which will bring together two great teams to realize an enormous clean energy resource for coastal populations in the US.”

The new organization will be headed by Ørsted US Offshore Wind Brostrøm, co-CEO Grybowski, president and CFO David Hang both from the Deepwater Wind team, and COO Claus Bøjle Møller from the Ørsted team.

The transaction is subject to clearance by the US competition authorities and is expected to close by end of 2018. The name of the new organisation will be Ørsted US Offshore Wind.