Ocean Renewable Power Company (ORPC) has hired Alexandre Paris to be President and Chief Executive Officer of its Québec subsidiary Énergies Marines Renouvelables Québécoises (EMARQ).
Paris was most recently Senior Manager, Growth and Innovation at Hydro-Québec’s research institute (IREQ). He joins EMARQ with over 20 years’ experience as an entrepreneur and executive for private and public-sector companies in Canada, the US, Europe, and Asia.
Chris Sauer , ORPC Chairman, Co-founder & CEO, said: “To accomplish our ambitious goals in Canada and tackle new opportunities in 2018 and beyond, we are thrilled to have Alex on board. Our near-term future growth and, ultimately, our profitability depend on excellence in execution of our business plan in North America.”
Formed in 2015, EMARQ expands ORPC’s marine renewable energy (MRE) business into Canada, providing solutions to lower the cost and increase the availability of electricity in remote communities in northern Quebec’s Nunavik region and elsewhere.
Under the guidance of EMARQ’s Vice President and General Manager, Marcel Boridy, EMARQ has established key business relationships with priority Canadian companies, government agencies and research groups.
Notably, EMARQ has collaborated with the Makivik Corporation, IREQ and the National Recherche Council Canada (NRC), over the last 3 years to evaluate the potential for MRE in the Inuit region of Nunavik, Québec.
Paris joins ORPC’s now 7-member executive management team. Underscoring ORPC and EMARQ’s growth, Ben Winn has recently been hired as Mechanical Engineer at ORPC headquarters in Portland, Maine.
US-based hydrokinetic developer ORPC now has 26 employees working in three countries on two continents. In addition to company headquarters in Portland and EMARQ office in Montréal, ORPC has an operations center in Eastport, Maine; personnel in Seattle, Washington, and Anchorage, Alaska; and wholly-owned subsidiary ORPC Ireland with a Dublin office.