The cancellation of two large offshore wind projects in New Jersey is the latest in a series of setbacks for the nascent U.S. offshore wind industry, jeopardizing President Joe Biden’s goal of powering 10 million homes by towering ocean-based turbines .
The ship UHL Felicity carrying parts for offshore wind turbines, arrives to dock, May 24, 2023, in New Bedford, Mass. The first U.S. commercial-scale offshore wind farms are currently under construction: Vineyard Wind off Massachusetts and South Fork Wind off Rhode Island and New York. (AP Photo/Rodrique Ngowi)
FILE – The ship UHL Felicity carrying parts for offshore wind turbines, arrives to dock, May 24, 2023, in New Bedford, Mass. The first U.S. commercial-scale offshore wind farms are currently under construction: Vineyard Wind off Massachusetts and South Fork Wind off Rhode Island and New York. (AP Photo/Rodrique Ngowi)
FILE – The ship UHL Felicity carrying parts for offshore wind turbines, arrives to dock, May 24, 2023, in New Bedford, Mass. The first U.S. commercial-scale offshore wind farms are currently under construction: Vineyard Wind off Massachusetts and South Fork Wind off Rhode Island and New York. (AP Photo/Rodrique Ngowi)
FILE – The ship UHL Felicity carrying parts for offshore wind turbines, arrives to dock, May 24, 2023, in New Bedford, Mass. The first U.S. commercial-scale offshore wind farms are currently under construction: Vineyard Wind off Massachusetts and South Fork Wind off Rhode Island and New York. (AP Photo/Rodrique Ngowi)
By JENNIFER MCDERMOTT Associated Press , MATTHEW DALY Associated Press , MICHAEL HILL Associated Press , and MIKE CATALINI Associated Press
The cancellation of two large offshore wind projects in New Jersey is the latest in a series of setbacks for the nascent U.S. offshore wind industry, jeopardizing President Joe Biden’s goal of powering 10 million homes by towering ocean-based turbines …
WASHINGTON — The cancellation of two large offshore wind projects in New Jersey is the latest in a series of setbacks for the nascent U.S. offshore wind industry, jeopardizing the Biden administration’s goals of powering 10 million homes from towering ocean-based turbines by 2030 and establishing a carbon-free electric grid five years later.
The Danish wind energy developer Ørsted said this week it’s scrapping its Ocean Wind I and II projects off southern New Jersey due to problems with supply chains, higher interest rates and a failure to obtain the amount of tax credits the company wanted. Together, the projects were supposed to deliver over 2.2 gigawatts of power.
The news comes after developers in New England canceled power contacts for three projects that would have provided another 3.2 gigawatts of wind power to Massachusetts and Connecticut. They said their projects were no longer financially feasible.
In total, the cancellations equate to nearly one-fifth of President Joe Biden’s goal of 30 gigawatts of offshore wind power by 2030.
Despite the setbacks, offshore wind continues to move forward, the White House said, citing recent investments by New York state and approval by the Interior Department of the nation’s largest planned offshore wind farm in Virginia. Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management also announced new offshore wind lease areas in the Gulf of Mexico.
