The National Aquarium Denmark, Royal Arena, Copenhagen Metro, and Children’s Hospital Copenhagen – maybe you know some of these buildings as Copenhagen monuments. COWI, the Danish engineering and architecture consulting company, has contributed to the construction of all of them. With over 7,500 employees worldwide, COWI is a company with global ambitions.

For several years, COWI’s US presence has been mainly focused on consulting within the infrastructure and maritime sectors, but on March 1, 2023, COWI opened the doors to its first US office in Houston Texas. Here, the company focuses its efforts on the energy transition. Just a year before the Danish company’s opening in Houston, in 2022, President Joe Biden signed the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA9, which has since played an important role in COWI’s business opportunities on the US market

With the passing of the IRA, the US government has chosen to invest significantly in climate and clean energy solutions. The legislation will support reaching the US’ ambitions of cutting its CO2 emissions by 50% by 2030, and contribute with historically large investments in green solutions in the US.

For the past few years, the green transition has had a central role to COWI’s operations. In 2022, the company announced that it would no longer participate in tenders for new fossil energy projects. In the same year, COWI presented a new strategy in which sustainability now plays a central role for company. Kasper Frölich believes this has given COWI a significant advantage on the American market, as they now only present green solutions and expertise.

"We have valuable experience from Scandinavia and are the go-to consulting company if you want the greenest solutions. We have insider knowledge of the market and experience from previous projects, and a COWI community, which means that our knowledge is not static but is always evolving. This makes us well-positioned to contribute to the market here in the US”, says Kasper Fröhlich.

In March 2023, COWI joined forces with 30 Danish energy companies in "Denmark goes to the Texas", a delegation from Denmark to Texas organized by the Trade Council's energy team in North America focusing on exploring market opportunities and developments within two of the fastest-growing energy industries in the US – wind and Power-to-X.

"The collaboration and delegation in March with The Trade Council and the other participating companies have been a great catalyst for us to kick-start COWI in the US," says Kasper Fröhlich, adding:

"There is significant interest from Danish companies in investing in the US, and the American market has great potential for Danish companies to contribute to the renewable energy transition."

During the delegation, Danish companies were introduced to Texas' energy sector. According to Kasper, the relationships that were formed during the delegation have been crucial for their launch in the US. 

Despite COWI having barely had their green energy office in the US for a year, the company is already experiencing a significant demand for its consulting services.

"We've gotten off to a pretty good start, with several million dollars in revenue, which I think is impressive, considering how short a time we've been in the US," says Kasper Fröhlich.

COWI's work is already well-known in Scandinavia and other European countries, and. With the company's success in its first year on the other side of the Atlantic, the future looks bright for COWI in the US with gigawatt-scale projects.

Significant investments in renewable energy solutions are expected in the US in the coming years. Denmark's Consul General in Houston, Morten Siem Lynge, leads the Trade Council's energy team in North America. He believes Danish companies have a unique opportunity to contribute to the American transition to renewable energy:

"It's clear that there is considerable potential to leverage Danish expertise in the American green transition. Therefore, it's crucial that we demonstrate to the American business community the extensive opportunities and benefits of investing in Danish solutions," urges Morten, adding:

“With Danish companies like COWI already established in the US and engaged in energy projects, there are now more opportunities for other Danish solutions to enter the American market. We are constantly trying to establish dialogue not only between Danish and American partners, but also between Danish companies that can greatly benefit from each other’s experiences, e.g., through our Onshore Wind Platform, our US-Denmark Green Hydrogen Alliance, and our Offshore Alliance.”