Canadian firm to have US base in Marlborough
Canadian energy company Brookfield Renewable Power said yesterday it will open a new US headquarters in Marlborough, creating 100 jobs and adding to the growing clean energy sector in the Bay State.
The Brookfield announcement is the latest win for Massachusetts, which also will be home to an Evergreen Solar manufacturing facility on the site of the former Fort Devens Army base, a Department of Energy wind turbine blade testing facility in Charlestown, and a GreatPoint Energy pilot plant to convert coal to natural gas in Somerset.
"Brookfield has renewable energy facilities all over North and South America, and I am glad to see them creating a home base for their US operations in the clean energy industry we are growing in Massachusetts," Governor Deval Patrick said in a statement.
Brookfield owns and operates renewable energy projects across North America and in Brazil, but is primarily involved with hydropower plants - including 101 projects in the United States. Its Massachusetts headquarters will be home to its executive team and finance and accounting departments, and could eventually be home to a systems control center that would oversee its US power projects.
In Massachusetts, Brookfield's Jack Cockwell Pumped Storage facility in the Berkshires is the eighth-largest power plant in the state, according to Kim Osmars, chief operating officer for the company's US operations.
Brookfield chose Massachusetts for its US headquarters because of its proximity to projects scattered across the Northeast and the access to a skilled workforce, Osmars said. Brookfield Renewable Power currently has a $13 billion portfolio, and is planning a huge growth spurt - about $10 billion in investments in North and South America over the next five years.
"We've been in this business for about 100 years and have owned and operated plants," Osmars said. "We are a long-term player."
Carolyn Y. Johnson can be reached at cjohnson@globe.com.
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