Two Companies’ Combined Offshore Wind Assets and Organizations
Could Deliver Clean Energy to Seven States on East Coast
Ørsted has entered into an agreement with the D.E. Shaw Group to acquire
a 100% equity interest in Rhode Island-based Deepwater Wind at a
purchase price of USD 510 million. The two companies’ offshore wind
assets and organizations will be merged into the leading US offshore
wind platform with the most comprehensive geographic coverage and the
largest pipeline of development capacity.
Deepwater Wind, the leading US offshore wind developer, has built an
attractive and geographically diverse portfolio of projects along the US
East Coast. Deepwater Wind’s portfolio has a total potential capacity of
approx. 3.3GW comprising:
-
Block Island (30MW), the only operational offshore wind farm in the US
-
Three offshore wind development projects in Rhode Island, Connecticut,
Maryland and New York totaling 810MW of capacity with long-term
revenue contracts in place or pending finalization.
-
Approximately 2.5GW of offshore wind development potential across
three well-sited BOEM lease areas in Massachusetts and Delaware. Of
these 2.5GW, 1.2GW is developed through an equal joint venture with
PSEG, a leading New Jersey utility.
Ørsted’s current US offshore wind portfolio has a total capacity of
approx. 5.5GW comprising:
-
Development rights for up to 2GW at the Bay State Wind site off the
coast of Massachusetts owned in a joint venture with Eversource.
-
Development rights for up to 3.5GW at the Ocean Wind site off the
coast of New Jersey.
-
In Virginia, Ørsted will be constructing two 6MW wind turbine
positions for phase one of Dominion Energy’s Coastal Virginia Offshore
Wind Project. Ørsted has exclusive rights with Dominion Energy to
discuss the potential development of up to 2GW of offshore wind
capacity.
With the combined organization and asset portfolio, Ørsted will be able
to deliver clean energy to the seven states on the US East Coast that
have already committed to build more than 10GW of offshore wind capacity
by 2030.
Martin Neubert, CEO of Offshore Wind at Ørsted, says: “With
this transaction we’re creating the number one offshore wind platform in
North America, merging the best of two worlds: Deepwater Wind’s
longstanding expertise in originating, developing and permitting
offshore wind projects in the US, and Ørsted’s unparalleled track-record
in engineering, constructing, and operating large-scale offshore wind
farms. 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.”
“D.E. Shaw & Co. has been a dedicated owner of Deepwater Wind with a
vision to pioneer offshore wind in the US and being at the innovative
forefront of technology investment. We are excited to continue this
journey and take the industry to the next level.”
Thomas Brostrøm, CEO of Ørsted US Offshore Wind and President of
Ørsted North America, says: “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. We have exciting
times ahead of us delivering large-scale clean energy projects to
households and businesses along the Eastern Seaboard. Ørsted will
maintain a strong presence in Massachusetts and Rhode Island and will,
of course honor the local commitments associated with Deepwater Wind’s
projects along the East Coast.“
Bryan R. Martin, Managing Director of D. E. Shaw & Co., says:
“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. I’m
truly proud that offshore wind’s global leader can now author the next
chapter for Deepwater Wind. Together - they’ll continue to make history.”
Jeffrey Grybowski, CEO of Deepwater Wind, says: “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.”
After closing of the transaction, the name of the new organization will
be Ørsted US Offshore Wind. The new organization will be represented by
a local management team headed by Ørsted US Offshore Wind CEO Thomas
Brostrøm, Co-CEO Jeff 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.
This announcement does not change our EBITDA guidance for 2018, but
increases the CAPEX guidance from 16-18 billion to DKK 23-25 billion.
The CAPEX guidance includes the acquisition price of Deepwater Wind,
early CAPEX commitments for the US offshore and onshore wind portfolio
in Q4 2018, as well as increased spending in the remaining portfolio due
to timing.
About Deepwater Wind
-
Headquartered in Providence, Rhode Island, and with site offices in
Annapolis, Maryland; Block Island, Rhode Island; Long Island, New
York; and New Bedford, Massachusetts, Deepwater Wind is the leading US
developer of offshore wind projects.
-
Founded in 2007 and led by an experienced management team, Deepwater
Wind delivered Block Island, the first-ever offshore wind farm in the
US and has built-up a portfolio of 810MW of development stage assets
with long-term revenue contracts awarded, with a further approx. 2.5GW
potential capacity.
In operation:
-
Block Island, America’s first offshore wind farm, comprises five
General Electric 6MW turbines with a total capacity of 30MW. The Block
Island wind farm, located 3 miles from Block Island, Rhode Island,
came into operation in December 2016.
Development projects with revenue contracts awarded or under
negotiation:
-
Revolution Wind (600MW): located within Deepwater Wind’s northern
Massachusetts-Rhode Island BOEM lease area, Revolution Wind will
interconnect into southern New England where it will deliver power to
Rhode Island (400MW) and Connecticut (200MW). Subject to permitting,
securing power purchase agreements and final investment decision,
Revolution Wind is expected to be commissioned in 2023. The Revolution
Wind lease area is located more than 15 miles south of the Rhode
Island coast.
-
Skipjack (120MW): located more than 19 miles from Ocean City,
Maryland, Skipjack will interconnect into the Delmarva peninsula where
it will deliver power to the residents of Maryland under the 20-year
OREC order which was issued by the Maryland Public Service commission
in 2017. Subject to permitting, further development, and final
investment decision, Skipjack is expected to be commissioned by the
end of 2022.
-
Southfork (90MW): located 35 miles east of Long Island, Southfork will
interconnect into eastern Long Island where it will deliver power to
households under a long-term power purchase agreement with the Long
Island Power Authority. Subject to permitting, further development,
and final investment decision, Southfork is expected to be
commissioned by the end of 2022.
Future development:
-
Garden State Offshore Energy: a 50-50 joint venture with PSEG, a
leading New Jersey utility and power generation company, holds the
rights to a BOEM lease off the coast of Delaware and New Jersey with
the potential for approx. 1.2GW of offshore wind.
-
New England lease areas: Deepwater Wind holds the rights to two BOEM
lease areas off the coast of New England which contain the potential
for a further 1.3GW with close proximity to the growth markets in the
North East.
About Ørsted in the US
Ørsted entered the US in 2015 and
sees the US renewables market as an attractive, strategic growth
opportunity.
-
Ørsted currently has development rights for the up to 2GW Bay State
Wind site off the coast of Massachusetts, and for the up to 3.5GW
Ocean Wind site off the coast of New Jersey.
-
Bay State Wind is located 25 miles off the Massachusetts South Coast,
and 15 miles off the coast of Martha’s Vineyard. The project is a
50-50 joint venture between Ørsted and Eversource. Ocean Wind is in
the early stages of development and will be located approx. 10 miles
off the coast of Atlantic City.
-
In Virginia, Ørsted will be constructing two 6MW wind turbine
positions for phase one of Dominion Energy’s Coastal Virginia Offshore
Wind Project. The two companies have signed a memorandum of
understanding giving Ørsted exclusive rights to discuss potential
development of up to 2GW of offshore wind capacity.
-
Ørsted recently
acquired Lincoln Clean Energy, a leading US developer of onshore
wind farms.
-
In addition, Ørsted is active in battery storage and solar development
and last year established an office in Austin, Texas, to lead those
efforts.
About Ørsted
As the world’s leading developer of offshore
wind farms, Ørsted has installed 5.1GW offshore wind capacity in Europe
and has a further 3.8GW under construction. It is Ørsted’s ambition to
have installed a total offshore wind capacity of 11-12GW worldwide by
2025.
The Ørsted vision is a world that runs entirely on green energy. Ørsted
develops, constructs and operates offshore wind farms, bioenergy plants
and innovative waste-to-energy solutions and provides smart energy
products to its customers. Headquartered in Denmark, Ørsted employs
5,700 people. Ørsted’s shares are listed on Nasdaq Copenhagen (Orsted).
In 2017, the group’s revenue was DKK 59.5 billion (EUR 8.0 billion). For
more information on Ørsted, visit https://orsted.com/
or follow us on Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram and Twitter.
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20181008005305/en/
Copyright Business Wire 2018