Not finished with its ramped-up crusade against U.S. offshore wind energy projects, the Trump administration has added new targets—the South Coast Wind and New England Wind projects located about 25-30 miles south of Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket Island off the coast of Massachusetts that were planned to produce an estimated 5 GW of power.
The U.S. Interior Dept. intends to “review” project approvals issued at the end of the Biden administration, said the U.S. Justice Dept. in its Washington, D.C., federal district court filings on Sept. 3 against the intended 2.6-GW New England Wind projects by a group claiming their harm to right whales, and on Aug. 29 as part of an existing lawsuit by Nantucket contending the 2.4-GW South Coast Wind project approval violated federal environmental laws.
The planned two-part New England Wind projects are being developed by Avangrid and South Coast developer is Ocean Winds North America LLC, a joint venture of EDP Renewables and Engie.
On behalf of the Interior Dept., DOJ seeks to pause the challenges to gain court approval for further permit review and other potential action. “Continuing to litigate this
case before any decision is made on the motion for remand and stay
would potentially waste considerable time and resources,” said DOJ, which wants South Coast Wind project case review to start by about Sept. 18 and New England Wind projects review by Oct. 10.
The latest administration action against offshore wind follows an accelerating flurry of federal permit, funding, tax credit and other sector restrictions, including loss of millions of dollars in funds set to boost port upgrade in Salem, Mass., to serve the projects.
Construction had been set to start next year on the South Coast project but power sales agreements with Massachusetts and Rhode Island have been delayed due to prior market conditions, including more federal constraints, state officials said.
“Nantucket supports renewable energy … but the permitting for South Coast Wind failed to account for the significant harm the project will cause Nantucket, a federally designated National Historic Landmark,” the city’s lawsuit clams.
Avangrid declined comment, as did South Coast Wind owner Ocean Winds, but in a Sept. 1 court case filing statement, the latter said “this delay and the forthcoming request for remand are simply pretext for the unabashed desire of the President to eliminate all offshore wind projects from existence regardless of their impacts.” The developer claimed to “have spent over seven years and more than $600 million” to develop the project and seek needed approvals.
“President Trump said he was a job creator – he has turned into the biggest job destroyer of any President this country has seen. It’s clear ‘Make America Great Again’ doesn’t include construction workers,” Rodrigo Badaro, president of the North Shore Building Trades Council, said in a statement.
