RWE Reportedly Weighing US Offshore Wind Exit Deal; Advocacy Groups, Industry Warn ‘No Basis Under US Law’ to Refund Lease Purchase

RWE is reportedly considering a deal with the Trump administration to surrender US offshore wind leases in exchange for commitments tied to fossil fuel investments, prompting more than 50 US organisations to urge the company to abandon the reported negotiations.

In a letter addressed to RWE CEO Markus Krebber, the groups warned the company against “trading renewable for fossil fuel investments” and said that abandoning offshore wind in favour of fossil fuels would expose RWE to financial risks and impact the company’s reputation going forward.

“We urge RWE not to cut deals with a regime that has no respect for either legal norms or climate reality. The Trump administration will not last forever. Submitting to its fossil fuel whims sets a dangerous precedent and exposes RWE to serious reputational risk”, the letter reads.

The organisations criticised the Trump administration’s reported efforts to pressure offshore wind leaseholders into redirecting investments toward US LNG infrastructure, arguing that offshore wind remains “cheaper and more reliable than LNG”.

If RWE moves to reach an offshore wind exit agreement with the US government, the company would be the third developer to do so, following TotalEnergies and Ocean Winds, whose deals involve relinquishing their offshore wind lease areas in return for lease payment refunds and committing to invest in fossil fuel projects in the United States.

Before reports emerged that RWE could also be considering such a deal, a source from the US offshore wind industry told offshoreWIND.biz that the agreements are not the done deals they are reported to be.

“These agreements are not yet final and drawing scrutiny — they may not even be legal,” the source said.

This was also emphasised by the 50 groups that reached out to RWE, which said that there was “no basis under U.S. law” for the federal government to refund offshore wind leases that were legally acquired through federal auctions.

The letter also highlighted RWE’s LNG-related investments, including agreements tied to Port Arthur LNG, Texas LNG, and the Brunsbüttel LNG import terminal, saying that the projects conflict with the company’s climate commitments and raise environmental justice concerns.

In the US, RWE holds a 6 GW offshore wind seabed portfolio, including the Community Offshore Wind project off New York and New Jersey, as well as the 1.6 GW Canopy floating wind project off the coast of Humboldt County in California.

In April last year, RWE’s CEO Marcus Krebber said the company was pausing all activities in the US offshore wind market due to political uncertainty.

Back in Europe, RWE, as well as TotalEnergies and Ocean Winds, continue to develop, build and operate offshore wind farms, with all three developers having reached new milestones with offshore wind projects over the past month.

TotalEnergies has just submitted an authorisation application for a 1.5 GW project in France, where Ocean Winds recently completed the construction of one of its offshore wind farms. Ocean Winds also recently received full onshore planning consent for a 2 GW offshore wind farm in Scotland.

RWE is nearing completion of its 1.4 GW Sofia offshore wind farm in the UK, where the company also started work on new projects recently awarded Contracts for Difference (CfD), and has also been granted development consent for two new offshore wind farms. The company is also expected to soon complete the construction of Denmark’s biggest offshore wind farm, Thor, and has started building a 1.6 GW project in Germany.

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