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Released January 17, 2025 | SUGAR LAND
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Written by John Egan for Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--A final permit issued by the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) (Washington, D.C.) to a large offshore windfarm off the Massachusetts coast may turn into another flashpoint between incoming President Donald Trump and outgoing President Joe Biden.
The DOI on December 20 issued a final permit for the 2,400-megawat (MW) SouthCoast offshore wind project. SouthCoast is being developed by Ocean Winds, a joint venture between a unit of EDP Group (Madrid, Spain) and ENGIE (Paris, France).
The SouthCoast project is the 11th offshore wind project DOI has approved during the Biden administration. The aggregate generation capacity of those approved projects exceeds 19,000 MW, enough to power more than 6 million homes. In March 2021, shortly after assuming the presidency, Biden set a goal of having 30,000 MW of offshore wind generation operating by 2030.
Spokespeople for the DOI and its Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) were unable to provide an estimate of the number of direct and indirect jobs, including the onshore supply chain, that could be created if all 11 permitted offshore wind projects are constructed. However, SouthCoast Wind projected that its 2,400-MW project alone would create 15,000 full-time equivalent jobs.
According to a statement from DOI, the SouthCoast Wind Project is expected to generate up to 2,400 MW of clean energy for as many as 840,000 homes in Massachusetts and Rhode Island. The project area covers approximately 127,388 acres. It is located about 26 nautical miles south of Martha's Vineyard and 20 nautical miles south of Nantucket, Massachusetts.
The project, as approved, includes the construction of up to 141 wind turbines and up to five offshore substation platforms. As many as eight offshore high-voltage undersea cables could connect with substations located in Brayton Point or Falmouth, Massachusetts.
"When we walked in the door of this Administration, there were zero approved, commercial-scale offshore wind projects in federal waters," Interior Secretary Deb Haaland said in a statement December 20. "Today, I am proud to celebrate our 11th approval. ... With President Biden's leadership through the Investing in America agenda, we are addressing the climate crisis, creating jobs and building an enduring economy that supports all communities."
In that statement, BOEM Director Elizabeth Klein touted the collaborative process that preceded the agency's approval of a permit: "The approval of the SouthCoast Wind Project today demonstrates the strength of our collaborative process to deploy offshore wind. To help inform our decisions, our environmental reviews continue to integrate leading scientific research with key insights from Tribal Nations, states, other government agencies, industry, environmental groups and ocean users. As we mark this achievement, we look forward to the meaningful economic opportunities the SouthCoast Wind Project will bring to this region, both during construction and throughout the project's lifetime."
Industrial Info is tracking about 33 offshore wind projects under development in the U.S. The total investment value (TIV) of those projects is approximately $86 billion. About $60 billion of those proposed projects are slated to be built in the Atlantic Ocean.
Click on the image at right to see a pie chart of the U.S. market region where offshore wind projects are scheduled to be built.
But roughly two dozen of those 33 proposed projects have a low probability of meeting their construction and in-service dates, according to an Industrial Info assessment. Offshore wind projects have been challenged by high costs, local opposition, lengthy delays, changing ownerships and attempts to renegotiate power-purchase contracts (PPAs) that were signed before the COVID-19 pandemic and ensuing supply chain snafus drove up the cost of putting steel into the ocean floor. For more on that, see December 11, 2024, article - U.S. Offshore Wind Year in Review and January 10, 2024, article - U.S. Offshore Wind Projects: Three Steps Backward, One Step Forward.
Partly offsetting those obstacles has been the Biden administration's strong financial support for offshore wind development and the onshore supply chain investments needed to build the supportive infrastructure for offshore wind power, as well as construct the factories that will manufacture offshore windfarm components.
But next week, on January 20, that support will end as President Biden leaves office and President-elect Donald Trump becomes the 47th president. Trump has been a critic of renewable energy and has on several occasions vowed to claw back unspent federal funds from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Act of 2021 and the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, each of which contained billions of dollars of federal support for renewable energy and its supporting infrastructure and supply chains. But many of those dollars remain unauthorized and undispersed.
While renewable energy advocated cheered the 11th-hour approval of the SouthCoast project, it and other offshore wind projects holding federal permits could still face formidable obstacles from the incoming president, GOP-controlled Congress and local citizens groups.
When contacted by Industrial Info, a DOI spokesperson said the Trump administration will have to decide what it wants to do about the SouthCoast permit. He declined to speculate about whether the permit could be vulnerable to a challenge under the Congressional Review Act (CRA), a GOP law passed in the 1990s that allowed Congress, with a simple majority vote, to undue federal agency rules that were finalized in the last 60 legislative days before a change in administration.
As the SouthCoast Wind permit is not a federal agency rule, the CRA might not be the proper vehicle for revoking the permits for offshore windfarms. It is not clear if the permits could be revoked by presidential executive order. Sources in and around Capitol Hill are saying the incoming Trump administration is leaning toward enacting many of its early policy goals through a budget reconciliation bill, a Congressional vehicle sometimes used to pass wide-ranging legislation with a simple majority vote.
But using that vehicle may create as many problems as it solves, because federal spending creates jobs. When running for office last year, Trump and many GOP candidates in the House and Senate emphasized the need to create jobs and grow the economy. Senators and Congresspeople with significant clean energy federal projects in their areas that are, or will be, funded by federal largesse may object to pulling the plug on their home-state projects. And with narrow majorities in the House and Senate, the GOP can ill afford many defections on such a bill.
According to the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities (Washington, D.C.), a nonpartisan research and policy group, a reconciliation bill "allows for expedited consideration of certain tax, spending and debt-limit legislation. In the Senate, reconciliation bills aren't subject to filibuster and the scope of amendments is limited, giving this process real advantages for enacting controversial budget and tax measures. Because reconciliation bills cannot be filibustered, in recent decades the reconciliation process has been used most frequently when the same party controls the presidency, House, and Senate but lacks the 60-vote majority in the Senate needed to overcome a filibuster."
The SouthWind project also has been opposed by some cities and Native American Tribes who feel offshore wind is developing too fast and without sufficient consideration of impacts on the environment and fishing industry.
In response to the DOI permit announcement, local news outlets in Cape Cod and Martha's Vineyard featured critical comments from local officials and Tribal leaders.
A report in the Cape Cod Times said "many critics, particularly on Cape Cod, say the offshore wind industry is advancing too quickly without adequate consultation with those who will be most affected--local residents, fishermen and coastal communities."
It quoted Susanne Conley, a leader of the Save Greater Dowses Beach citizens group, who has advocated for a reevaluation of offshore wind policy. While Conley said she supports the transition to renewable energy, the Times report continued, "she believes the Biden-Harris offshore wind program should be halted, particularly in light of what she perceives as insufficient baseline environmental data 'to understand the effect of these massive projects on the fisheries, on all ocean life and on coastal communities.'"
The "Times" reported that a local politician, State Rep. Steven Xiarhos (R-Barnstable), also questioned the current pace of offshore wind development. While Xiarhos said he supports clean energy, he called for a more cautious and responsible approach, urging developers to address community concerns, including the impact on commercial fishing and tourism.
Despite the stakeholder engagement process touted by the U.S. Department of the Interior, Xiarhos said the incoming Trump administration could slow the pace of offshore wind development to allow more time for stakeholders to address environmental, economic and community concerns.
The article quoted Xiarhos as saying, "Projects must account for their effects on the commercial fishing industry and tourism, both of which are vital to Cape Cod's economy."
Separately, another local news outlet, the "MV Times," reported that resistance to the SouthCoast Wind project is coming from leaders of the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah), who have said in correspondence with the federal government that the project, and offshore wind in general, is moving too quickly. Nantucket officials also have indicated that they are considering appealing the SouthCoast Wind permit.
Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the leading provider of industrial market intelligence. Since 1983, IIR has provided comprehensive research, news and analysis on the industrial process, manufacturing and energy related industries. IIR's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) platform helps companies identify and pursue trends across multiple markets with access to real, qualified and validated plant and project opportunities. Across the world, IIR is tracking more than 200,000 current and future projects worth $17.8 trillion (USD).
The DOI on December 20 issued a final permit for the 2,400-megawat (MW) SouthCoast offshore wind project. SouthCoast is being developed by Ocean Winds, a joint venture between a unit of EDP Group (Madrid, Spain) and ENGIE (Paris, France).
The SouthCoast project is the 11th offshore wind project DOI has approved during the Biden administration. The aggregate generation capacity of those approved projects exceeds 19,000 MW, enough to power more than 6 million homes. In March 2021, shortly after assuming the presidency, Biden set a goal of having 30,000 MW of offshore wind generation operating by 2030.
Spokespeople for the DOI and its Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) were unable to provide an estimate of the number of direct and indirect jobs, including the onshore supply chain, that could be created if all 11 permitted offshore wind projects are constructed. However, SouthCoast Wind projected that its 2,400-MW project alone would create 15,000 full-time equivalent jobs.
According to a statement from DOI, the SouthCoast Wind Project is expected to generate up to 2,400 MW of clean energy for as many as 840,000 homes in Massachusetts and Rhode Island. The project area covers approximately 127,388 acres. It is located about 26 nautical miles south of Martha's Vineyard and 20 nautical miles south of Nantucket, Massachusetts.
The project, as approved, includes the construction of up to 141 wind turbines and up to five offshore substation platforms. As many as eight offshore high-voltage undersea cables could connect with substations located in Brayton Point or Falmouth, Massachusetts.
"When we walked in the door of this Administration, there were zero approved, commercial-scale offshore wind projects in federal waters," Interior Secretary Deb Haaland said in a statement December 20. "Today, I am proud to celebrate our 11th approval. ... With President Biden's leadership through the Investing in America agenda, we are addressing the climate crisis, creating jobs and building an enduring economy that supports all communities."
In that statement, BOEM Director Elizabeth Klein touted the collaborative process that preceded the agency's approval of a permit: "The approval of the SouthCoast Wind Project today demonstrates the strength of our collaborative process to deploy offshore wind. To help inform our decisions, our environmental reviews continue to integrate leading scientific research with key insights from Tribal Nations, states, other government agencies, industry, environmental groups and ocean users. As we mark this achievement, we look forward to the meaningful economic opportunities the SouthCoast Wind Project will bring to this region, both during construction and throughout the project's lifetime."
Industrial Info is tracking about 33 offshore wind projects under development in the U.S. The total investment value (TIV) of those projects is approximately $86 billion. About $60 billion of those proposed projects are slated to be built in the Atlantic Ocean.
Click on the image at right to see a pie chart of the U.S. market region where offshore wind projects are scheduled to be built.But roughly two dozen of those 33 proposed projects have a low probability of meeting their construction and in-service dates, according to an Industrial Info assessment. Offshore wind projects have been challenged by high costs, local opposition, lengthy delays, changing ownerships and attempts to renegotiate power-purchase contracts (PPAs) that were signed before the COVID-19 pandemic and ensuing supply chain snafus drove up the cost of putting steel into the ocean floor. For more on that, see December 11, 2024, article - U.S. Offshore Wind Year in Review and January 10, 2024, article - U.S. Offshore Wind Projects: Three Steps Backward, One Step Forward.
Partly offsetting those obstacles has been the Biden administration's strong financial support for offshore wind development and the onshore supply chain investments needed to build the supportive infrastructure for offshore wind power, as well as construct the factories that will manufacture offshore windfarm components.
But next week, on January 20, that support will end as President Biden leaves office and President-elect Donald Trump becomes the 47th president. Trump has been a critic of renewable energy and has on several occasions vowed to claw back unspent federal funds from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Act of 2021 and the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, each of which contained billions of dollars of federal support for renewable energy and its supporting infrastructure and supply chains. But many of those dollars remain unauthorized and undispersed.
While renewable energy advocated cheered the 11th-hour approval of the SouthCoast project, it and other offshore wind projects holding federal permits could still face formidable obstacles from the incoming president, GOP-controlled Congress and local citizens groups.
When contacted by Industrial Info, a DOI spokesperson said the Trump administration will have to decide what it wants to do about the SouthCoast permit. He declined to speculate about whether the permit could be vulnerable to a challenge under the Congressional Review Act (CRA), a GOP law passed in the 1990s that allowed Congress, with a simple majority vote, to undue federal agency rules that were finalized in the last 60 legislative days before a change in administration.
As the SouthCoast Wind permit is not a federal agency rule, the CRA might not be the proper vehicle for revoking the permits for offshore windfarms. It is not clear if the permits could be revoked by presidential executive order. Sources in and around Capitol Hill are saying the incoming Trump administration is leaning toward enacting many of its early policy goals through a budget reconciliation bill, a Congressional vehicle sometimes used to pass wide-ranging legislation with a simple majority vote.
But using that vehicle may create as many problems as it solves, because federal spending creates jobs. When running for office last year, Trump and many GOP candidates in the House and Senate emphasized the need to create jobs and grow the economy. Senators and Congresspeople with significant clean energy federal projects in their areas that are, or will be, funded by federal largesse may object to pulling the plug on their home-state projects. And with narrow majorities in the House and Senate, the GOP can ill afford many defections on such a bill.
According to the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities (Washington, D.C.), a nonpartisan research and policy group, a reconciliation bill "allows for expedited consideration of certain tax, spending and debt-limit legislation. In the Senate, reconciliation bills aren't subject to filibuster and the scope of amendments is limited, giving this process real advantages for enacting controversial budget and tax measures. Because reconciliation bills cannot be filibustered, in recent decades the reconciliation process has been used most frequently when the same party controls the presidency, House, and Senate but lacks the 60-vote majority in the Senate needed to overcome a filibuster."
The SouthWind project also has been opposed by some cities and Native American Tribes who feel offshore wind is developing too fast and without sufficient consideration of impacts on the environment and fishing industry.
In response to the DOI permit announcement, local news outlets in Cape Cod and Martha's Vineyard featured critical comments from local officials and Tribal leaders.
A report in the Cape Cod Times said "many critics, particularly on Cape Cod, say the offshore wind industry is advancing too quickly without adequate consultation with those who will be most affected--local residents, fishermen and coastal communities."
It quoted Susanne Conley, a leader of the Save Greater Dowses Beach citizens group, who has advocated for a reevaluation of offshore wind policy. While Conley said she supports the transition to renewable energy, the Times report continued, "she believes the Biden-Harris offshore wind program should be halted, particularly in light of what she perceives as insufficient baseline environmental data 'to understand the effect of these massive projects on the fisheries, on all ocean life and on coastal communities.'"
The "Times" reported that a local politician, State Rep. Steven Xiarhos (R-Barnstable), also questioned the current pace of offshore wind development. While Xiarhos said he supports clean energy, he called for a more cautious and responsible approach, urging developers to address community concerns, including the impact on commercial fishing and tourism.
Despite the stakeholder engagement process touted by the U.S. Department of the Interior, Xiarhos said the incoming Trump administration could slow the pace of offshore wind development to allow more time for stakeholders to address environmental, economic and community concerns.
The article quoted Xiarhos as saying, "Projects must account for their effects on the commercial fishing industry and tourism, both of which are vital to Cape Cod's economy."
Separately, another local news outlet, the "MV Times," reported that resistance to the SouthCoast Wind project is coming from leaders of the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah), who have said in correspondence with the federal government that the project, and offshore wind in general, is moving too quickly. Nantucket officials also have indicated that they are considering appealing the SouthCoast Wind permit.
Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the leading provider of industrial market intelligence. Since 1983, IIR has provided comprehensive research, news and analysis on the industrial process, manufacturing and energy related industries. IIR's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) platform helps companies identify and pursue trends across multiple markets with access to real, qualified and validated plant and project opportunities. Across the world, IIR is tracking more than 200,000 current and future projects worth $17.8 trillion (USD).
