Dive Brief
- Two U.S. offshore wind projects totaling up to 4.4 GW of planned capacity will not move forward after the developers entered into an agreement with the U.S. Interior Department in which the government said it will cancel the leases and “reimburse” the companies — but not until after they have made equal investments in American liquified natural gas, oil and energy infrastructure.
- DOI issued a statement on Monday saying Bluepoint Wind offshore New York and Golden State Wind offshore California “each separately agreed to voluntarily end their offshore wind leases” and not to pursue any new offshore wind projects in the United States. DOI put the value of the lease agreements and potential reimbursements at $765 million for Bluepoint and $120 million for Golden State.
- EDP, a Portuguese company with stakes in both projects, said it had “agreed to settle imminent claims.” The reimbursement of the amounts previously paid for the leases’ acquisition are contingent upon reinvestment in other U.S. energy projects “aligned with the current Administration of USA’s priorities,” EDP said. “The proceeds are expected to be received after fulfilment of conditions precedent which is anticipated to happen during 2026.”
Dive Insight
Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum said in a statement that the companies that bid for the offshore wind leases “were basically sold a product in 2022 that was only viable when propped up by massive taxpayer subsidies.”
“Now that hardworking Americans are no longer footing the bill for expensive, unreliable, intermittent energy projects, companies are once again investing in affordable, reliable, secure energy infrastructure,” he said. “In addition, the agreements resolve the unaddressed national security concerns at both projects.”
Ocean Winds, a 50% owner of Bluepoint Wind and Golden State Wind, is a joint venture owned by ENGIE and EDP Renewables. Global Infrastructure Partners, a part of BlackRock, owns the other 50% of Bluepoint. The Canada Pension Funds Investment Board is the other co-owner of Golden State.
“We appreciate the very constructive engagement with Secretary Burgum and the Department of the Interior and are pleased to have reached a practical resolution based on our shared commitment to pragmatic outcomes,” Salim Samaha, Chair of Midstream & LNG at GIP, said in a statement.
The agreements follow a similar outline as the one agreed to by DOI and TotalEnergies in March, under which TotalEnergies would abandon two offshore wind leases worth nearly $1 billion and instead invest an equal amount in U.S. gas and power production.
The Trump administration’s agreement with TotalEnergies is already drawing scrutiny from legal experts and Democratic lawmakers, both for how the deal was struck and the government’s decision to use the Treasury Department's Judgment Fund to finance it. However, to date, no entity has filed a lawsuit challenging the deals, and some experts have raised questions of standing.
Tony Irish, a former lawyer with DOI, wrote in a post on LinkedIn that the agreements are most likely legal settlements premised on the notion of imminent litigation, though he noted that he was basing his comments on public announcements and had not seen the text of the agreements.
“If so, these two agreements not only share the same general infirmities of the [TotalEnergies] ones, but are even weaker,” he wrote. “The imminence of suspension is clearly tied to a willingness to enter into agreement.”
The Oceantic Network, a trade organization for the offshore wind industry, released a statement from Sam Salustro, senior vice president of policy and market affairs, slamming the agreements.
"Unable to defend its offshore wind actions in court, the administration is using taxpayer dollars to buy foreign companies out of legally executed offshore wind leases,” Salustro said, referring to the administration’s losing streak in court involving previous attempts to stop work on wind projects.
“The economic damage and costs to consumers’ pocketbooks are staggering,” he said. “Communities should be celebrating cost savings and homegrown power — not paying more because viable American energy projects are being canceled.”
He noted that the announcement from DOI coincided with Massachusetts’ announcement that the state has activated contracts with the approximately 800-MW Vineyard Wind project, which it said would save Massachusetts customers a projected $1.4 billion on electricity bills over the next 20 years.
