New Challenges and Delays for U.S. Offshore Wind Projects
The offshore wind energy sector has remained in flux since the inauguration of Donald Trump and his new administration which has paused the efforts of the Biden administration and seems poised to abandon future projects. This week, BP Renewables became the latest to stall one of its projects in the U.S. pipeline while others continue to show signs of retrenching and shifting to a longer-term focus.
BP in a filing with the New York Public Service Commission withdrew its application for the transmission system associated with its Beacon Wind project which would provide a total of 2.4 GW in a two-phase development. The company had previously asked the PSC to delay consideration of its application for up to one year.
The first phase of Beacon Wind already has its power offtake agreement in place with New York State. They were expected to participate in a future solicitation for the second phase.
The company in a statement said the move is to provide it more time based on changes in the market and “a challenging regulatory environment.” BP is reportedly planning to evaluate the project’s design and configuration. In addition to the changes in the federal government's stance on the sector, it is being noted that New York State has been considering its future approach, specifically how the projects are connected to the power grid.
Beacon Wind was to bring its cables ashore and connect to a repurposed power station in Astoria, New York in Queens County. But observers noted that New York State said for its sixth-round solicitation scheduled for the first quarter of 2026, it would consider “generation-only projects.”
BP took full ownership of Beacon Wind as part of its agreement with Equinor in 2024 to end its joint venture with each company pursuing one of the projects. Equinor took ownership of Empire Wind. The plan for Beacon Wind has gained its final environmental assessment from the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management and was believed close to the approval of its Construction & Operation Plan (COP) but it was not completed by the Biden administration.
At the same time, French giant EDF reported financial results today, February 21, with over $120 billion in revenues and $18 billion in income. However, detailing its results the company revealed a nearly $1 billion impairment charge ($944.4 million) related to the Atlantic Shores wind project in New Jersey. Reuters is quoting CEO Luc Remont as saying it is “in order to reflect the new American political landscape.”
Atlantic Shore Projects 1 and 2 represent 2.8 GW which would be provided to New Jersey. The project received BOEM approval of its COP in October 2024, but it has yet to conclude agreements with the state. It was bid into the fourth-round solicitation, but New Jersey ended it without selecting a project. In January 2025, joint venture partner Shell announced it was withdrawing from the project as part of its efforts to reduce its focus on renewable energy. EDF has said it is still committed to the project but decided to depreciate the developments carried out for the project.
A third development company, Vineyard Offshore, which is a U.S.-based affiliate of Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners is also reported to be laying off and eliminating a total of 50 jobs. The company emphasized to local reporters it was not at the project level.
It is in partnership with Avangrid for Vineyard Wind 1 which is under construction but delayed due to the failure of blades and the need to test and replace the turbine blades. The company independently was also pursuing Vineyard Wind 2, but in December withdrew from negotiations for its power offtake agreement with Massachusetts. The plan calls for splitting the generation with Connecticut, but that state decided not to proceed with wind power at this time. The company said it could not financially justify the project without the second power agreement and it would have to reconsider the plan. Vineyard Offshore also has the lease for Excelsior Wind which is an early-stage project that would provide power to New York State and has an early-stage development with the lease for a project in Humboldt County off the northern coast of California.