Developers are delaying some wind projects and writing down the value of investments, while other plans are hanging in limbo after President Donald Trump’s executive orders have brought the wind industry to a standstill, The Wall Street Journal reports.
During his campaign, Trump directed fierce criticism to offshore wind projects, which he promised to “end on day one.” His first wave of executive orders included a pause for federal permits and leasing for wind projects on land and at sea.
“We aren’t going to do the wind thing,” Trump told his supporters Jan. 20, twirling a finger in a circle to indicate the rotation of a turbine blade. “Big ugly windmills, they ruin your neighborhood.”
Since the election, TotalEnergies has shelved a planned offshore wind energy development for four years. Oil giant Shell took a $1 billion impairment, more than half of which was for an offshore wind project. Orsted, a major offshore wind developer, recorded a $1.7 billion impairment on its U.S. offshore wind business and slashed its capital investment plans through 2030 by a quarter.
While work continues at projects that had already started construction on land or offshore, confusion about what happens next has overtaken the industry. Developers are awaiting clarification on a number of fronts, said Scott Wilmot, senior analyst at Enverus Intelligence Research.
The offshore wind supply chain stretches to states such as Louisiana, which has 38 companies with supply contracts, including shipbuilding and vessel support, according to the Oceantic Network, which tracks the industry.
Otto Candies III, chief executive of Otto Candies, a Louisiana-based marine transportation company founded by his grandfather, says the firm is one of several in the state that have seen offshore wind as a way to diversify beyond their traditional oil and gas clientele. Candies has two vessels working on wind projects in the Northeast.
Candies says he understands the administration taking a “good, disciplined look at what’s moving ahead,” but hopes the offshore wind industry can continue.
“As a supplier, the more markets that there are for us to work in, the better that is for our industry and the better it is for our employees,” Candies says.
