March 4, 2020 — A new glass-and-steel office space is less about the number jobs or the company that will occupy it and more about the industry taking root there.
Seven co-working desks at the Wexford Innovation Center on Dyer Street in the Jewelry District will soon be used by Ørsted U.S. Offshore Wind. The Danish company is joining seven other wind-related companies already there. And judging by the 200 or so attendees at the March 2 office opening, a nascent industry is on the verge of rapid growth.
“This is a brand-new industry and it’s being born right here in the state of Rhode Island. It’s unbelievable,” Gov. Gina Raimondo said.
Twenty-two gigawatts of wind facilities are planned for federal waters between Maine and North Carolina, and undoubtedly a lot of engineers, tradespeople, boatbuilders, and more will be needed to get the turbines built and spinning.
Other port cities such as Boston, where Ørsted has its co-headquarters, New Bedford, Mass., and Norfolk, Va., are vying for the title of U.S. capital of offshore wind. But these is little doubt that Providence is part of the emerging blue economy. Ørsted, which bought Deepwater Wind in 2018, is still using its original downtown office on Exchange Terrace, where it has already doubled its staff from 30 to 60. More will work at the innovation hub on Dyer Street, where employees from Denmark and other offices will hold meetings with offshore wind entrepreneurs.