TotalEnergies has halted the development of an offshore wind farm it plans to build off the coast of New York, as US President-elect Donald Trump has vowed to obstruct the green industry championed by his predecessor.
“Offshore wind, I have decided to put the project on pause” with Trump’s return, Total CEO Patrick Pouyanne said at an energy industry conference in London on Tuesday.
The move by the French oil and gas giant is one of the first tangible signs of a halt in investment in renewable power sources due to the incoming administration. Trump said during the presidential campaign that he would target the offshore wind industry with an executive action on his first day in office.
President Joe Biden vowed to create an offshore wind industry in the US to reach 30 gigawatts by the end of the decade. Soaring costs and supply chain issues have made reaching that goal unlikely, but any progress could slow significantly, with new and pending projects requiring federal sign off.
Total’s Attentive Energy project off the coast of New York would be able to power more than 3 million homes when constructed. The company won the rights to develop the area of seabed in a record-setting auction in 2022.
The company could revive the project if a more environmentally friendly president takes office in the future, according to Pouyanne.
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“I said to my team, the project in New York, we’ll see that in four years,” he said. “But the advantage is it’s only for four years.”
