Trump administration to pay $765M to cancel offshore wind leases

Trump administration to pay $765M to cancel more offshore wind leases This strategy by the Republican administration aims to impede offshore wind farm development - Bookmark - CommentsGo to comments The Trump administration said it will buy back offshore wind leases for four more projects, pushing total spending on the agreements to nearly $2.6 billion. Chicago-based Invenergy is the latest company to agree to terminate its four offshore wind leases, which were in very early stages of development, in exchange for $765 million in reimbursements. One of these, Leading Light Wind off New Jersey's coast, was already canceled in November, with others located off Maine and California. Invenergy plans to reinvest these funds into natural gas and geothermal projects, which it believes can be developed more rapidly. This strategy by the Republican administration aims to impede offshore wind farm development, which President Donald Trump opposes, while bolstering fossil fuel projects he supports. This approach was adopted after federal courts blocked Trump’s earlier attempts to halt offshore wind development through executive action. Trump has frequently voiced his hatred of wind power and calls turbines ugly. “Under President Trump, companies are shifting investment back toward dependable, secure energy infrastructure that can power our economy and lower utility costs,” Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said in a statement. "We applaud Invenergy for recognizing the importance of baseload power and investing in energy solutions that deliver real benefits to American consumers.” Hillary Bright, executive director of offshore wind advocacy group Turn Forward, said these buyouts are not one-for-one ‘swaps’ for another kind of energy, since the fossil fuel projects won't deliver power to the same states as the offshore wind farms would have. “Replacing coastal offshore wind with geothermal or natural gas infrastructure in another region does nothing to address rising ratepayer affordability concerns, reliability challenges or potential gaps in power supply in the Northeast and mid-Atlantic,” she said in a statement. Eight offshore wind projects have been stopped Under the first deal announced in March, French company TotalEnergies is getting nearly $1 billion — essentially a refund of its two offshore wind leases — if it invests the money in fossil fuels instead. Those leases were off the coasts of North Carolina and New York. New York is leading a lawsuit challenging the TotalEnergies agreement and Democrats in Congress are investigating it. Golden State Wind and Bluepoint Wind agreed in April to end their leases in exchange for reimbursements totaling nearly $900 million, provided they invest equally in fossil fuels. California is investigating the deal that ended Golden State Wind, a floating offshore wind farm proposed off the state’s central coast. Bluepoint Wind was an offshore wind farm in the early stages of development off the coasts of New Jersey and New York. Invenergy is North America’s largest privately held independent power producer. It has four offshore leases: a large lease area for Leading Light Wind, which would have used traditional turbines that affix to the seafloor; two leases for projects with floating turbines in the Gulf of Maine; and a lease for a floating project off California’s central coast. Invenergy says it's focused on energy projects that can move forward today For Invenergy, the deal offered a way to move forward with energy projects that could bring power to the grid more quickly for its customers than the dormant offshore wind leases. Trump has erected roadblocks for permitting wind energy, while trying to speed up fossil fuel development. The company left the door open to reentering the offshore wind industry in the future. Daniel Runyan, senior vice president for development at Invenergy, said in a statement that at a time of unprecedented energy demand, they "will deploy additional capital into projects that can be delivered on a commercially reasonable timeline and meet customer demand while continuing to evaluate opportunities as market conditions evolve.” Leading Light Wind was targeted for as much as 2.4 gigawatts to power more than 1 million homes. Invenergy told the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities in November it was canceling Leading Light Wind because of challenges with the supply chain, equipment and vendors, and changing regulatory requirements. The floating projects were so early in development that Invenergy hadn't yet calculated how much power those sites could provide. Invenergy, a major player in the natural gas sector, has 14 operational natural gas facilities. It’s expanding into geothermal energy, with 45 leases totaling 144,000 acres in Nevada, Idaho, California, Utah and New Mexico. Invenergy plans to use the $765 million from the agreement for natural gas facilities in Indiana, Wisconsin, Iowa, Kansas, and Missouri, and geothermal development in the West. It was not refunded interest paid on the offshore wind lease payments or incremental development costs. Invenergy has a large portfolio of projects other than offshore wind that produce electricity without warming the planet. That includes about 125 land-based wind farms operating and in construction, more than 60 solar and nearly 30 battery storage projects developed, and many more that it's actively planning and building. Join our commenting forum Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies Comments