Wind-turbine servicer moving to R.I.

PROVIDENCE — When a proposal to install five giant wind turbines near Block Island was first rolled out in 2008, the idea was that by approving the first offshore wind farm in the United States, Rhode Island could position itself as a hub for all the companies that supply and service the wind industry.

Now, three years after the completion of the Block Island Wind Farm, the state may be seeing the beginning of that activity and the jobs it would bring.

The Rhode Island Commerce Corporation board on Monday awarded $1.93 million in tax incentives to a United Kingdom-based wind turbine service company that plans to open its U.S. headquarters in North Kingstown.

GEV Wind Power US has signed a lease for a 16,000-square-foot facility in the Quonset Business Park and has already started hiring Rhode Island workers to fill some of the 125 jobs it plans to create in the state.

The company, which describes itself as the leading provider of blade maintenance services in the global wind power industry, counts among its clients Ørsted U.S. Offshore Wind, owner of the Block Island Wind Farm.

GEV’s decision to move to Rhode Island comes after meetings with Gov. Gina Raimondo and Commerce Secretary Stefan Pryor, who said he had traveled twice to the United Kingdom to sit down with executives of the company. His pitch was straightforward.

“Rhode Island is the pioneering state in the offshore wind industry,” he said he told GEV’s leaders. “The Ocean State was the first in the water. We are prepared to embrace this company and ensure that from Rhode Island they can send their personnel around the country to service projects.”

GEV’s move into Rhode Island comes after state regulators recently approved a long-term contract to buy power from a 400-megawatt wind farm that Ørsted is planning in Rhode Island Sound. The project would be in an area in which the company, which has an office in Providence, is also proposing wind farms to supply Connecticut and Long Island. (Ørsted representatives accompanied Pryor to his first meeting with GEV in England.)

Other developers are also moving forward with projects or signed leases for federal waters near the Rhode Island coast.

GEV received $1.93 million over 10 years in state Qualified Jobs Incentive Tax Credits, which would go into effect only after the company has created jobs and the new employees have paid income taxes for a year.

In exchange for 10 years in incentives, GEV would have to commit to operating in Rhode Island for 12 years. According to the Commerce Corporation, a third-party analysis concluded that, when the tax credits are subtracted out, the company would generate $3.5 million in net revenues for the state over the 12-year period, and, once the new hires are in place, an increase of $13.67 million in Rhode Island’s annual gross domestic product.

“We are truly excited about setting up our base in Rhode Island, where Governor Raimondo and Commerce Secretary Pryor’s welcome party and support for the industry has been incredible,” Daniel Boon, general manager for GEV’s U.S. operations, said in a statement. “As we gear up, there will be a tangible opportunity for Rhode Islanders to come and talk to us about the options for an exciting career in wind energy and join what is becoming one of America’s fastest growing industries.”

The company has hired workers from the Community College of Rhode Island and the composites program at the International Yacht Restoration School in Newport, according to Pryor. They will train as blade technicians who will work on projects around the nation and overseas. Other jobs at GEV’s Quonset facility will include management and support staff.

Pryor said that Rhode Island was the only U.S. state represented at a British offshore wind industry conference in May. He said he started discussions at the event with other companies about coming to Rhode Island and said that negotiations are continuing.

“We aim to maintain and even strengthen as the pioneer in this field,” he said.

With reports from staff writer Paul Edward Parker

— akuffner@providencejournal.com / (401) 277-7457