[WASHINGTON] The Trump administration is working to halt development of an offshore wind project planned near Maryland, in the latest escalation of the president’s war on the clean energy source he loathes.
The Interior Department plans to move to remand and vacate a permit granted to the US$6 billion Maryland Offshore Wind Project, according to a court filing dated on Friday (Aug 22). The project, which is being developed by US Wind and will consist of as many as 114 wind turbines about 18.5 kilometres off the coast of Ocean City, Maryland, was approved by the Biden administration in 2024 and was set to begin construction next year.
US President Donald Trump has aggressively and specifically targeted wind power in his larger crusade against clean energy, often characterising it as a bird-killing eyesore. On his first day in office, Trump indefinitely halted the sale of new offshore leases and his administration has since paused permitting of all developments on federal lands and waters.
His latest salvo underscores the risks faced by US developers of offshore wind projects who can only build in federal waters controlled by Trump. The Interior Department on Friday halted work on an 80 per cent complete offshore wind farm being constructed off the coast of Rhode Island by Denmark’s Orsted, sending shares of the company to record lows.
In April, Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum halted work on Equinor’s US$5 billion Empire Wind farm off the coast of New York, but reversed the decision a month later after the administration reached a deal with New York Governor Kathy Hochul to open the way for new gas pipelines to be built in the state.
US Wind, which is owned by funds managed by Apollo Global Management and a subsidiary of Toto Holding, was the 10th offshore wind project to receive approval from the Biden administration, which at the time said that the project was part of a plan to build offshore wind capacity equivalent to roughly 30 nuclear reactors.
“We remain confident that the federal permits we secured after a multi-year and rigorous public review process are legally sound,” Nancy Sopko, US Wind’s vice-president of external affairs, said.
Environmental groups said that the unprecedented moves would have a devastating effect on US workers, electricity consumers and investment in America.
“The Trump administration’s attacks on affordable energy just keep coming,” said Pasha Feinberg, an offshore wind specialist with the Natural Resources Defense Council. “Americans were promised cheaper electricity, but nearly every day this administration is trying to drive those costs up.” BLOOMBERG
