French company stops US offshore wind projects in $1B deal with Trump administration
The Trump administration will pay a French company $1 billion to abandon two offshore wind leases in the United States as it steps up its campaign against offshore wind and other renewable energies.
The Interior Department announced Monday that TotalEnergies has accepted a refund of its rents for projects off the coasts of North Carolina and New York and will invest the money in fossil fuel projects instead.
The Trump administration tried to stop offshore wind construction, but federal judges overturned those orders. Environmental groups have condemned the TotalEnergies deal as an alternative way to block wind projects. President Donald Trump has gone all-in on fossil fuels, which he says are the way to lower costs for families, increase reliability and help the United States maintain its global lead in artificial intelligence.
TotalEnergies had already paused two of its projects after Trump was elected.
TotalEnergies has pledged not to develop any new offshore wind projects in the United States. TotalEnergies CEO Patrick Pouyanné said in a statement that the company gave up offshore wind projects in the U.S. in exchange for a refund of lease fees “considering that the development of offshore wind projects is not in the interest of the country.”
Pouyanné stated that the returned lease fees would finance the construction of a liquefied natural gas facility in Texas and the development of oil and gas activities, calling it a “more efficient use of capital” in the United States.
After making these investments, TotalEnergies will be reimbursed for the amount paid in lease purchases for offshore wind, according to the DOI.
“We welcome TotalEnergies’ commitment to developing projects that produce reliable, affordable energy that lowers Americans’ monthly bills while providing secure U.S. baseload power today and into the future,” Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said in a statement.
The Biden administration has sought to boost offshore wind as a solution to climate change. On his first day in office, Trump began reversing US energy policies with executive orders aimed at boosting oil, gas and coal. globally offshore wind market is growingChina leads the world in new installations.
The Trump administration halted construction of five major offshore wind projects on the East Coast days before Christmas, citing national security concerns. Developers and states sued, and federal judges allowed all five to continue construction, essentially concluding that the government had not shown the risk was imminent enough to warrant construction being halted.
On Monday, Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind, one of the wind farms targeted by the administration, began providing power to Virginia’s grid. Developer Dominion Energy announced this milestone.
Environmental groups criticized the TotalEnergies deal. The Natural Resources Defense Council said it was reckless to halt projects aimed at reducing energy costs.
Ted Kelly, clean energy director at the Environmental Defense Fund, said the proposed deals are “an outrageous misuse of taxpayer dollars to deny Americans access to clean, affordable energy exactly when they need it most.”
TotalEnergies acquired a 2022 lease for the Carolina Long Bay project for approximately $133,000. It aimed to produce more than 1 gigawatt of energy there, enough to power approximately 300,000 homes. Also in 2022, it purchased the lease in New York and New Jersey for $795,000. This is planned as a larger project with the potential to generate 3 gigawatts of clean energy to power approximately one million homes.
Associated Press writer Matthew Daly contributed to this report from Washington.
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