Meet OREI's Founder
Ross J. Tyler
As Director of Delaware’s Office of Economic Development, I oversaw the state’s interests across the automotive, health, tourism, and composite materials sectors. I spearheaded foreign direct investment in offshore wind as a transformative industry for the state’s business base.
My leadership in offshore wind drew the attention of the Maryland Energy Administration (MEA), which recruited me to advance the state’s clean energy and job creation strategy. Recognizing offshore wind as the only utility-scale renewable solution suited to Maryland’s resources, I assisted in developing an innovative public financing policy to support its implementation.
This policy innovation led to a global role with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), where I served as Secretariat for the Sustainable Energy Finance Initiative (SEFI). Following the financial crisis, MEA invited me back to lead the advancement of offshore wind and transition Maryland businesses into clean energy supply chain roles.
To address critical knowledge gaps among policymakers and business leaders, I assembled a group of offshore wind-interested Maryland businesses, which later became the basis of The Maryland Business Network for Offshore Wind. Subsequently, I helped co-found The Business Network for Offshore Wind (now known as Oceantic), which became a respected platform for education, policy dialogue, and business engagement across federal, state, academic, and corporate stakeholders. Simultaneously, I founded Offshore Renewable Energy International (OREI), a Virginia-registered LLC that initially focused on providing offshore wind feasibility and viability studies for Small Island Developing States (SIDS), including Jamaica, Barbados, and Haida Gwaii, British Columbia.
In recognition of my leadership in the offshore wind sector, RWE—one of the world’s largest renewable energy companies—recruited me to serve as Senior Developer, leading initiatives in floating offshore wind technology along the U.S. West Coast and Canada.
After securing the northern California offshore wind lease area for RWE, OREI most recently completed a U.S.-funded feasibility study for the Philippines and is now supporting offshore wind development off the coasts of Oregon and Bermuda.