Providence, RI – U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), a member of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, cheered the half-billion-dollar acquisition of the owner of Rhode Island’s Block Island Wind Farm, Deepwater Wind, by one of the world’s top offshore wind energy developers, Orsted.
“Rhode Island’s ocean planning and offshore wind leadership is paying off big,” said Whitehouse. “Deepwater’s first-in-the-nation offshore wind farm created jobs and powers Rhode Island homes and businesses. It’s a model for renewable energy, and for how to bring together everyone – from fishermen to financiers – with a stake in a promising renewable energy project to ensure the process is inclusive and fair. Now, Deepwater’s expertise and experience will combine with the resources of a global energy leader that knows how to grow offshore wind. It is very good news for Rhode Island, American energy leadership, and our climate.”
Orsted is a Danish company that has succeeded in building offshore wind farms along Europe’s northern coast. According to industry experts, its decision to acquire Deepwater signals growing interest in American offshore wind—an industry Deepwater pioneered and that Rhode Island officials, businesses, and communities facilitated through a groundbreaking comprehensive ocean management plan in 2010.
Whitehouse is a champion of offshore wind. Along with fellow U.S. Senator Jack Reed (D-RI) in 2017, Whitehouse introduced the bipartisan Incentivizing Offshore Wind Power Act to provide critical financial incentives to spur more investment in offshore wind energy. He has also introduced the Offshore Wind Incentives for New Development (WIND) Act with U.S. Senator Edward J. Markey, to sustain vital tax provisions to help offshore wind energy developers plan and invest over the long term.
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