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President-elect Donald Trump’s A pledge to halt offshore wind energy development “on day one” of his second term is already triggering a slowdown in projects on the East Coast, but the largest wind farm proposed in the Gulf of Mexico is likely to remain on track.
German energy giant RWE, which plans to build a 2,000-megawatt wind farm about 40 miles south of Lake, says the project will have a development period so long that President Trump’s four-year term will end before permitting and construction begin. Because. Charles, Louisiana. The project, which could power more than 350,000 homes, is not expected to be operational for about 10 years.
“This project has a long-term development schedule that is longer than any federal administration, with an operational date planned for the mid-2030s,” said RWE spokesman Ryan Ferguson.
RWE, the world’s second-largest offshore wind developer, and other major players in the renewable energy industry have announced changes in funding priorities and warned of possible project delays and derailments after Trump was elected president this month.
“The change in U.S. administration carries risks to the timely implementation of offshore wind projects,” RWE Chief Financial Officer Michael Muller said at a press conference earlier this month. “A new Republican administration could delay certain projects. For example, the realization of the Community Offshore Wind project near New York depends on pending permits from U.S. federal authorities.”
Due to “higher risks and delays” in the U.S. offshore wind market, RWE has launched a $1.6 billion share buyback, RWE CEO Markus Krebber said on a call with investors. Muller said the buyback marks a major shift in the company’s near-term spending priorities, but confidence in the durability of U.S. demand for renewable energy has not diminished, with more and more states setting targets for solar and wind energy. He pointed out that he was doing it.
Jenny Netherton, Louisiana program manager for the Southeastern Wind Coalition, said rebalancing RWE makes sense. “It wasn’t unexpected,” she said. “Companies are always trying to find the best path forward in an uncertain environment.”
“There is little control over what happens nationally. But in Louisiana, the direction offshore wind is going is very clear.”
Trump’s opposition to offshore wind power began in 2006. The then-US president began a decade-long battle with the Scottish government over a proposed wind farm that he said would ruin the prospects for a golf course he wants to build. Trump lost the battle and was ordered to pay nearly $300,000 in legal fees to Scotland. In a recent speech, Trump said wind farms harm property values and wildlife. Even more strangely, he claimed that wind energy causes cancer, increases food prices, and prevents people from watching TV when the wind isn’t blowing.
Trump was criticized during his first term for “slow-walking” permits for the first offshore wind farms in federal waters. RWE and other companies say wind farms already under construction are likely to move forward, but projects scheduled to break ground in the next few years could face setbacks.
Of the 30 states with offshore wind potential, nine have statewide wind energy mandates. Two states, Massachusetts and Rhode Island, have set deadlines for achieving their wind energy goals in the 2020s, while four states – New York, Connecticut, Maryland, and Virginia – have set deadlines for the 2030s.
These goals and America’s ever-growing demand for electricity are a sign that President Trump will not stop wind energy development, even if he slows it down, Muller said.
“We still believe we still need offshore wind (energy) in America,” he said, referring specifically to New York. “We need offshore wind to keep up with demand.”
Louisiana set a goal of developing 5,000 megawatts of offshore wind capacity by 2035, but that goal was not legally binding. This goal, proposed during the 2021 administration of Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards, appears to have been abandoned by Gov. Jeff Landry, who took office in January. The Republican governor has said little publicly about offshore wind development and did not respond to requests seeking his position on the issue.
Many other Louisiana Republicans strongly support offshore wind and see it as an economic benefit to the state. Louisiana companies that have long been in the offshore oil and gas industry have seen business slow down in recent years. Several companies, including shipyards, engineering firms and metal manufacturers, have readily made the switch to help plan and build offshore projects on the East Coast, including America’s first offshore wind farm.
Bipartisan legislation in Louisiana clears the way for a faster approval process for wind projects in state-managed waters three miles off the coast. Louisiana has approved contracts with two companies to build small wind farms near Cameron Parish and Port Fourchon, the Gulf Coast’s largest oil and gas ports. Both projects will likely be built years before the RWE wind farm.
The last federal lease auction in the Gulf region was canceled in July due to low interest from bidders, but two companies recently presented competing plans for the 142,000-acre tract near Galveston, Texas. It is unclear how Trump’s victory will affect these proposals. The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management is waiting to see if there is interest from more developers in the area and will likely begin competitive lease sales in the coming months.
Netherton said that while President Trump may create uncertainty at the federal level, Louisiana will not waver in its support for offshore wind energy.
“We still have broad support here,” she said. “There is little control over what happens nationally. But in Louisiana, the direction offshore wind is going is very clear.”
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