TotalEnergies Halts US Offshore Wind Project Amid Political Uncertainity

November 27, 2024, by Adnan Memija

TotalEnergies has paused the development of its offshore wind project in New York, citing political uncertainties following Donald Trump’s US presidential election win, according to Bloomberg.

TotalEnergies has been active in the US offshore wind market since 2018. In 2022, the company participated in a bid for a lease area in the New York Bight, covering 132 square miles off the coast of New York and New Jersey.

Attentive Energy, a joint venture between TotalEnergies, Corio Generation, and Rise Light & Power, decided to split the site into two projects.

In October 2023, the Attentive Energy One project was selected in New York’s third competitive offshore wind solicitation, which was later canceled due to ”technical and commercial complexities between provisional awardees and their partners”.

The company decided not to rebid in New York’s latest offshore wind solicitation.

In January 2024, the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities chose two offshore wind projects, collectively totalling 3,742 MW in generation capacity, one of which is Attentive Energy Two, with a capacity of 1,342 MW.

Since the Biden-Harris administration, the US has approved the nation’s ten offshore wind projects and held six offshore wind lease auctions – including a record-breaking sale offshore New York and the first-ever sales offshore the Pacific and Gulf Coasts.

In April 2024, the US Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland announced a new five-year offshore wind leasing schedule, which includes up to twelve potential offshore wind energy lease sales through 2028.