US Gov’t Reaches Deals to Cancel Two More Offshore Wind Projects and Refund Lease Fees

The US Department of the Interior (DOI) has reached agreements with Bluepoint Wind and Golden State Wind developers to voluntarily terminate their offshore wind leases in exchange for a total of USD 885 million (around EUR 756 million) that they paid in lease fees, which the US will return to the developers to invest in fossil energy projects.

Bluepoint Wind is a partnership between Ocean Winds (a 50/50 joint venture of EDP Renewables and ENGIE) and Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP). The project is a fixed-bottom offshore wind farm off the coast of New York that was planned to have an installed capacity of 2.4 GW.

The Golden State Wind project, a 2 GW floating wind farm proposed to be built in the Morro Bay Wind Energy Area (WEA) off California’s central coast, is a joint venture of Ocean Winds and Reventus Power, with the project managed and led by Ocean Winds.

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Under the deal with the US government, GIP will invest up to USD 765 million, matching its original bid for the lease, in a US LNG facility. Following the investment, the offshore wind lease will be cancelled, and the company will be reimbursed for the fees it paid for the lease.

Separately, Golden State Wind will terminate its lease for the floating wind project off California, for which it will be eligible to recover approximately USD 120 million in lease fees after making an equivalent investment in US oil and gas assets, energy infrastructure, and/or LNG projects along the Gulf Coast.

According to a press release from the DOI, the two companies have also decided not to pursue new offshore wind projects in the country, the same as promised by TotalEnergies, which was the first offshore wind developer to reach this kind of a deal with the Trump administration.

The DOI said the agreements align with President Donald Trump’s Energy Dominance Agenda and aim to support “affordable and reliable energy” while addressing national security concerns related to the projects.

The DOI also said on 27 April that the agreements, which shift investments from energy sources such as offshore wind to “conventional solutions”, support investments that will generate returns for American taxpayers.

Following the DOI announcement, the US offshore renewable energy organisation, Oceantic Network, pointed out that the reimbursements would still go out of the US taxpayers’ money, and highlighted the recently completed Vineyard Wind 1 project that brought new energy capacity to the Massachusetts grid.

“Unable to defend its offshore wind actions in court, the administration is using taxpayer dollars to buy foreign companies out of legally executed offshore wind leases. The economic damage and costs to consumers’ pocketbooks are staggering”, said Sam Salustro, SVP of Policy & Market Affairs at Oceantic Network.

“At the same time, Massachusetts is demonstrating the opposite path forward: Vineyard Wind is helping to solve the energy affordability crisis, saving ratepayers $1.4 billion over the next twenty years. Communities should be celebrating cost savings and homegrown power—not paying more because viable American energy projects are being canceled. Until these actions are stopped through legal challenge, consumers will continue to bear the cost of an administration choosing which energy sources are allowed to succeed.”

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