Updated March 3
Officials behind a proposed wind farm nearly 30 miles off the Vineyard’s coast are blaming the Trump administration for an extensive delay to the development, and for the greater devaluation of their offshore wind projects in the U.S.
On Wednesday, Feb. 26, EDP Renewables CEO Miguel Stilwell d’Andrade told investors during an earnings call that the project is expected to be on hold the entire presidency of Donald Trump, citing the president’s executive order that halts the approval of new permits at new lease areas for offshore wind.
“We’ve taken the more prudent four-year delay approach; could’ve taken a two-year delay, but we took a four-year one,” d’Andrade told investors. “So we still have the project ready to go, and we’ll try to, let’s say, manage that optionality.”
Located 26 nautical miles south of Martha’s Vineyard, SouthCoast Wind is a 2.4-gigawatt project that the Interior Department stated would generate enough electricity to power 840,000 homes in Massachusetts and Rhode Island.
SouthCoast Wind developers had planned to start construction this year, and they had received a key approval on the last days of the Biden administration in January, days before Trump’s order was signed.
Also discussed on the earnings call, the uncertainties stemming from Trump’s opposition to offshore wind have led EDP to devalue its offshore wind projects across the country.
“Ocean Winds will be facing impairment with a €133 million (around $138 million) impacting EDPR at the net profit levels,” Rui Texeira, chief financial officer of EDP Renewables, said during the call.
Ocean Winds is the Madrid-based international wind company that owns SouthCoast Wind and is a joint venture between EDP Renewables, subsidiary of the EDP Group, Portugal’s largest utility company, and Engie, a French multinational electric utility company. In the United States, Ocean Winds is also developing Bluepoint Wind in New York and Golden State Wind in California.
Pierre-François Riolacci, Engie chief financial officer, also noted a drop in the value of the company’s U.S. offshore wind projects during an earnings call last Thursday.
“We also recorded an impairment on our U.S. offshore assets for a bit more than €100 million [around $104 million] to account for a four-year time lag in their development following the executive order issued on Jan. 20,” Riolacci said.
Michael Brown, CEO of Ocean Winds North America, said in a statement the company’s U.S. assets experienced an “impairment loss of €267 million” (around $280 million). He said the impact from changes in U.S. regulations, specifically the executive order, “is not yet known.”
“The impairment decision is a precautionary measure based on a scenario of potential delays in its projects,” Brown said. “Ocean Winds strongly believes in the potential of offshore wind to generate significant economic activity and provide abundant domestic energy to meet rapidly growing demand in the U.S., and remains confident in finding a path forward in coordination with all relevant authorities in the upcoming months.”
SouthCoast Wind had received approval from the U.S. Department of the Interior in December, and was the last offshore wind project to be pushed forward under the Biden administration.
However, under a new administration, it is unclear when a final decision will be made. The executive order also directs Interior Secretary Doug Burgum to conduct a “review of the ecological, economic, and environmental necessity of terminating or amending any existing wind energy leases, identifying any legal bases for such removal,” and to submit a report to the president.
An Interior Department spokesperson did not provide a timeline regarding Trump’s executive order.
“The Department of the Interior is currently conducting an internal review of the reports submitted to the Secretary [Doug Burgum]. At this stage, we are assessing these reports to determine if any further action is warranted, and we remain dedicated to ensuring that all items are thoroughly evaluated as part of our internal management process,” J. Elizabeth Peace, Interior Department spokesperson, said in a statement.
Updated with comments from Ocean Winds North America CEO Michael Brown.
It’s not going to be a 4 year delay. It will be a generation ( no pun intended) politically before wind power is allowed to continue. The country has moved on from this type of environmental destruction.
You will wait for more than 4 years. Dont pick a project that doesnt make economic sense and requires taxpayer subsidy. Especially dont do it when you know Trump will be elected.
One word , Great !
“Located 26 nautical miles south of Martha’s Vineyard, SouthCoast Wind is a 2.4-gigawatt project that the Interior Department stated would generate enough electricity to power 840,000 homes in Massachusetts and Rhode Island.”
840,000 homes? That’s impressive!
– Now, is that only when the wind is blowing at 35mph and all turbines are working?
– Please report on how many homes will be powered when the wind is blowing at the average wind speed of 20mph on Coxes Ledge.
– Please report on how many homes will be powered when 15% of the turbines are down because of blade failure, lightning strikes or general maintenance.
– Please report on where the power for these homes will come from when the wind is not blowing.
The four year waiting period is a Hail Mary and wise investors know it.
Well , that should help with energy shortages and bring the price down– As they say– Thanks, trump.
We are all well aware of how controversial this subject is and how passionate folks are on either side.
Personally, I feel that this delay is a needed break the ocean around the leased sites desperately need.
Many scientists have recently changed their tunes a bit , claiming they don’t know what the impacts OSW development will have on the environment/species long term in this area saying “we don’t know,what we don’t know”
Anyone notice that since the December big push to drive the last of the mono piles before the January shutdown date, that whale mortalities and strandings have been very low ? We had 15 or so from mid December until the first week of January , I think 2 since and the whale alert app shows many whales are currently in the area.
Let’s see what the three OSW companies (Vineyard wind 1, South fork, and revolution wind) can produce for energy and what further impacts they have on the environment/species (if any) and either continue the build out or start the decommissioning process.
Let these three OSW sites be the control in this offshore wind development experiment our area.
https://turnto10.com/i-team/climbing-whale-deaths-sparks-questions-over-offshore-wind-scientist-denys-loud-noise-farm-construction-beach-turbine-pile-driving-shore-future-stranding-feb-17-2025?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR0po-GUeuxEJ0spVVYZxxI9sAwg4lmEKAKTXDtR3N0JyXWthbUSrfXcx5I_aem_yiUfiwNfYyRzXY0sfvudQw
Giving foreign companies another 4 years to improve their global position as leaders in the industry. Foolish.
Local governments should pay for residents to install solar for a few reasons:
Cheap electricity for users
Robust system during loss of electricity on grid
Reduces demand on local government to provide emergency services during all types of emergencies
Prevents electricity brownouts and blackouts
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