(Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump suspended new federal offshore wind leasing on his first day back in the Oval Office on Jan. 20, pending an environmental and economic review.
On the same day, Danish energy company Orsted, the world’s biggest offshore wind firm, posted another impairment charge on delays to a U.S. offshore project.
Those are just the latest blows for the offshore wind industry that former President Joe Biden and several states considered key to meeting federal and state clean energy targets.
“Halting offshore wind represents a huge step backward in our efforts to advance a clean energy future and damages the state’s economic opportunities,” North Carolina Governor Josh Stein, a Democrat, told Reuters in an email.
“Investors have signed leases and invested significant resources. They deserve certainty,” Governor Stein said.
In California, where offshore wind is in early stages of development, Adam Stern, Executive Director of Offshore Wind California, an industry trade group, said most of the work was happening at the state level.
“As an industry, we’re focused and moving forward with what is advancing offshore wind in California, and right now most of that is occurring at the state level.” That includes approved spending of roughly $475 million to upgrade ports and $4.6 billion to upgrade power transmission lines to prepare for future offshore wind projects.
In 2023 and 2024, several offshore wind companies, including Orsted, took billions in write-offs, impairments and other cancellation fees after they determined they could no longer complete projects profitably due to rocketing construction costs, higher interest rates and supply chain snags.
In New Jersey, which has seen its share of offshore wind project delays, Governor Phil Murphy, a Democrat, told Reuters in an email that he remains committed to clean energy.
“New Jersey will explore all available options to protect the health of our environment and residents while bolstering energy independence, creating good-paying American jobs, lowering energy bills, and growing New Jersey’s innovation economy,” Governor Murphy said.
There are currently four offshore wind projects operating in the U.S., but one – Vineyard Wind 1 – was shut for part of 2024 after a blade fractured and fell into the ocean in July.
There are also four offshore wind projects under construction and several more in development.
The following factbox lists the projects in service and those under construction and in advanced development that were expected to continue despite Trump’s review:
