USA: The Trump administration has reached another agreement to buy back offshore wind leases, this time covering four projects held by Invenergy.
The Chicago-based company agreed to end four US offshore wind leases in exchange for $765 M in reimbursements for lease fees. The projects were still in very early stages of development. The largest, Leading Light Wind off the coast of New Jersey, had already been cancelled by Invenergy in November. The other leases are located off Maine and California.
The latest deal brings total spending on similar agreements to nearly $2.6 B. The administration is using the buyback approach after courts blocked earlier attempts to halt offshore wind development through executive action.
“Under President Trump, companies are shifting investment back toward dependable, secure energy infrastructure that can power our economy and lower utility costs,” Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said in a statement. “We applaud Invenergy for recognising the importance of baseload power and investing in energy solutions that deliver real benefits to American consumers.”
Invenergy said it will use the reimbursed funds for natural gas facilities in Indiana, Wisconsin, Iowa, Kansas and Missouri, as well as geothermal development in the western US. The company said it is focusing on energy projects that can move forward on a commercially reasonable timeline and meet customer demand.
Offshore wind supporters criticised the move. Hillary Bright, Executive Director of Turn Forward, said the replacement projects would not deliver power to the same states that the offshore wind farms were intended to serve.
“Replacing coastal offshore wind with geothermal or natural gas infrastructure in another region does nothing to address rising ratepayer affordability concerns, reliability challenges or potential gaps in power supply in the Northeast and mid-Atlantic,” Bright said in a statement.
The administration has now stopped eight offshore wind projects through lease buyback agreements. Previous deals involved TotalEnergies, Golden State Wind and Bluepoint Wind.
Invenergy said it may still evaluate offshore wind opportunities in the future as market conditions change.
Source: AP News
