The Trump administration’s trend of paying off offshore wind developers to cancel their projects continued Aug. 6 with the $1.22 billion agreement for RWE to nix its wind leases off New York, California, and Louisiana, and instead invest the money in natural gas.
The Department of Justice (DOJ) settlement with Germany-based RWE extends the effort initiated by President Donald Trump’s personal disdain for offshore wind turbines. The slate of cancelations began with a $1 billion agreement in March with France’s TotalEnergies, and additional deals followed to eliminate wind projects with Chicago-based Invenergy, Spain’s Ocean Winds, the U.K.’s Reventus Power, and BlackRock’s Global Infrastructure Partners.
The RWE agreement includes the cancelation of the Community Offshore Wind project off New York and New Jersey, as well as additional leases off the coast of northern California and in the Gulf of Mexico.
Facing strong opposition from the Trump administration and potential lawsuits, RWE said in a statement, “After careful consideration, it was determined there is no path forward to permit these projects in the U.S. for the foreseeable future.”
Instead, RWE agreed to invest the money in fossil fuels. Most notably, RWE will pay $900 million for a 16% stake in Woodside Energy’s massive Louisiana LNG project. The liquefied natural gas export project was authorized last year and is expected to begin coming online in 2029, according to Australia-based Woodside.
