A Denmark-based company will acquire the developer of America's first-ever offshore wind farm.
Ørsted announced Monday it entered into an agreement to purchase Rhode Island-based Deepwater Wind for a price tag of $510 million.
On a conference call, Ørsted CEO Henrik Poulsen said the purchase comes at a time when offshore wind is experiencing international growth.
“We can now say that the cost of green energy is fully competitive with "black" energy. And as such, there is no economic reason for not accelerating the transition to green energy,” Poulsen said. “So yes, we do see a clear acceleration in demand, and I'm not sure that we've seen the final acceleration.”
Deepwater Wind's Block Island wind farm was the nation's first when it launched in 2016.
The company currently has three other offshore wind projects in development with Rhode Island, Connecticut, Maryland, and New York.
The "Revolution Wind" project, a joint venture between Connecticut and Rhode Island announced this summer, is expected to come online in 2023.
When combined with Orstead's other assets, the two companies said they hope to deliver offshore wind power to seven states on the east coast by 2030.
