US government sinks another two offshore wind projects

The US Department of the Interior has announced two agreements with the affiliate companies of the Bluepoint Wind and Golden State Wind projects, ending their wind and redirecting financial investments into conventional energy.

According to the US government, the move supports a shift away from intermittent energy that is overly reliant on taxpayer subsidies.

Investing in lower-cost, domestic oil and gas will generate greater returns to the American taxpayer, according to Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum, who said: “Now that hardworking Americans are no longer footing the bill for expensive, unreliable, intermittent energy projects, companies are once again investing in affordable, reliable, secure energy infrastructure.”

Burgum emphasised: “The companies that bid for these offshore wind leases were basically sold a product in 2022 that was only viable when propped up by massive taxpayer subsidies.

“We welcome each of the projects’ willingness to actually support baseload power and lower utility bills for American families.”

Bluepoint Wind was intended to be a 2.4GW offshore wind project located off the coast of New Jersey and New York, capable of powering about one million homes. The project was a 50/50 partnership between Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP) and Ocean Winds (OW), a joint venture of EDP Renewables and ENGIE.

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Golden State Wind was planned to be a 2GW floating offshore wind project in the Morro Bay Wind Energy Area off California’s central coast. When fully developed, the project could have powered up to 1.1 million homes. Golden State Wind is a joint venture of Ocean Winds (OW) and Reventus Power, managed by OW.

Michael Brown, CEO of Ocean Winds North America, a 50% owner of Bluepoint Wind and Golden State Wind, stated the company welcomed the “clarity provided with this decision and deal,” adding “our priority remains disciplined capital allocation and delivering reliable energy solutions that create long-term value for ratepayers, partners, and shareholders.”

Salim Samaha, Chair of Midstream & LNG, Global Infrastructure Partners, a part of BlackRock, a 50% owner of Bluepoint Wind, added: “We look forward to continuing to deploy capital into conventional and other energy sources in furtherance of the twin goals of increasing US energy independence and affordable energy.”

The announcement follows a recent deal with TotalEnergies, in which settlement agreements were reached with the United States Department of the Interior to relinquish the Carolina Long Bay and New York Bight offshore wind leases. The two projects would have produced a combined 4GW of renewable power, however, the investments will now be pushed into oil and gas projects .