Two US Firms Cancel Major Offshore Wind Contract
The two firms behind a major offshore wind project decided to cancel a contract to supply power from the development on Wednesday, dealing a major blow to Biden’s ‘green’ energy agenda.
Equinor and British Petroleum (BP), the firms working in a joint venture to construct the enormous Empire Wind 2 offshore wind farm, canceled a contract with New York state to sell power generated by the project, citing inflationary pressures, high-interest rates, and supply chain problems, Equinor announced.
The cancellation stands as the latest sign of trouble for the offshore wind industry, which the Biden administration is counting on to produce enough energy to power 10 million American homes for one year by 2030.
“Commercial viability is fundamental for ambitious projects of this size and scale. The Empire Wind 2 decision provides the opportunity to reset and develop a stronger and more robust project going forward,” Molly Morris, president of Equinor Renewables Americas, said in a statement.
“We will continue to closely engage our many community partners across the state. As evidenced by the progress at the South Brooklyn Marine Terminal, our offshore wind activity is ready to generate union jobs and significant economic activity in New York.”
The two companies had signaled that their projects were facing financial troubles, signing a petition to New York officials in September 2023 seeking to renegotiate their contracts to account for economic problems that are dogging the wider offshore wind industry.
The contract’s cancellation does not necessarily mean that the project is permanently terminated, but the firms will have to renegotiate the development at a higher price from the state to get back on track, according to Reuters.
“Politicians may try to resuscitate it, but this extends offshore wind’s losing streak, which is quite impressive,” Dan Kish, a senior research fellow for the Institute for Energy Research, told the Daily Caller News Foundation regarding the project and its prospects.
“Even with Biden’s Green New Deal slathering cash all over these things, they can’t seem to grease the skids enough to make these things work.”
The problems facing offshore wind are widespread and severe enough that several energy policy experts previously told the DCNF that they expect the federal government to step in to effectively bail the industry out.
In October, Ørsted, the world’s largest offshore wind developer, pulled the plug on two major projects off the New Jersey coast, and several other developers have paid hefty fines to get out of agreements to sell power from their projects in other states.
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Kevin Doyle
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If anyone seeks to understand how offshore windmills need to get financed, please see Rhode Island?
The five wind turbines at Block Island, off the coast of Rhode Island, rated at 30 mega-watt output (yet, only produce 10 MW), get reimbursed by the State of Rhode Island at TEN TIMES the rate paid to natural gas burning power plants.
They cannot possibly survive without artificially high subsidies.
The projects off New York and New Jersey are getting scrapped because even dopey, Marxist politicians don’t want to face re-election after telling their voters they will be paying 2-3 times more for electricity each month.
Windmills are not cost effective. Never will be.
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