German energy company RWE said it stopped its offshore wind activities in the United States due to the Trump administration’s efforts to oppose the industry.
“In the U.S., where we have stopped our offshore activities for the time being, our business in onshore wind, solar energy, and battery storage has so far been developing very dynamically,” RWE CEO Markus Krebber said in a speech manuscript.
“Nevertheless, we remain cautious given the political developments. We have introduced higher requirements for future investments in the U.S.,” he added.
The speech was released before the company’s annual meeting, which is set for April 30. RWE is a multinational energy company that invests in a range of renewable energy technologies, such as wind and solar.
Krebber’s speech followed the Trump administration’s action to pause the offshore Empire Wind Project.
The Interior Department ordered the construction of the Empire Wind Project, off Long Island, to review a permit approved by the Biden administration. Equinor, a Norwegian company, was building the project, which was 30% complete, before the Trump administration ordered it to stop construction.
The wind farm was set to begin operations in 2026 and be fully operational by 2027. The Biden administration approved the project in November 2023, and the construction was approved in 2024.
The Empire Wind Project includes two offshore wind farms: Empire 1 in New York and Empire 2 in New Jersey. The projects were planned to produce more than 2 megawatts of power combined, enough to supply energy to about 700,000 homes. However, the Interior Department has only targeted the Empire 1 project.
Trump has taken other actions aimed at the wind industry, such as signing an executive order freezing lease sales and permitting approvals for onshore and offshore wind. Last month, the Environmental Protection Agency also revoked the air permit for a 1.5-gigawatt wind project in New Jersey.
TRUMP HALT OF NEW YORK WIND PROJECT RAISES INVESTMENT FEARS
The administration’s actions to pause construction and review an approved project have raised energy investors’ concerns.
“Investors assume that projects, any energy project that is fully permitted and under construction, should have the ability to move forward,” Katharine Kollins, president of the Southeastern Wind Coalition, told the Washington Examiner earlier this week.
“When one person can decide fairly capriciously that they don’t like something for whatever reason, and stop a project midstream, that’s incredibly concerning to investors, and those investors are going to take their money elsewhere,” she added.