Not finished with its bizarre and unexplained crusade against U.S. offshore wind energy projects, the Trump administration has added a new target—the South Coast Wind project located about 25-30 miles south of Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket Island off the coast of Massachusetts that is set to produce more than 2.4 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 a Washington, D.C., federal district court filing Aug. 29 as part of an existing lawsuit by Nantucket against the project. On behalf of the Interior Dept., DOJ seeks to pause that challenge 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 the DOJ, which wants case review to start by about Sept. 18.
The latest administration action against offshore wind follows an accelerating flurry of permit, funding, tax credit and other sector restrictions in recent weeks.
Natucket has contended that Interior violated federal environmental and
cultural protection laws in approving South Coast Wind, without requiring more developer mitigation. Planned to have 147 turbines, it is being developed by Ocean Winds North America LLC, a joint venture of EDP Renewables and Engie.
Construction had been set to start next year 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.”
South Coast Wind owner Ocean Winds, through a spokesperson, declined to comment, but in a statement in a Sept. 1 court case filing, 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 in its filing 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.
