Trump puts in paperwork to strip SouthCoast offshore wind’s permits

The Trump administration has formalized its declaration to strip Ocean Winds’ 2.4GW SouthCoast offshore wind project of its permits in the latest move against the industry.

“The Department of the Interior [DoI] Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (“BOEM”) seeks a remand of its approval of the Construction and Operations Plan (“COP”) for the SouthCoast Wind Project,” the administration declared in a motion with the federal district court for the District of Columbia (Washington, DC).

The motion is the government’s response to a lawsuit filed by the island of Nantucket seeking to stop the project.

SouthCoast’s lease in the Massachusetts wind energy area is some 23 miles (37 km) south of Nantucket.

“BOEM is reviewing its approvals associated with the Project and has determined, based on its review to date, that it wishes to reconsider its COP approval,” said acting assistant attorney general Adam Gustafson with the Department of Justice (DoJ). DoJ defends the government from litigation.

The move is the latest indication that President Donald Trump remains committed to killing the offshore wind industry.

Good to his campaign promise, Trump began his presidency with a memorandum that froze offshore wind permitting and leasing and put existing projects up for review with a goal of termination.

The order likewise enabled DoJ to side with plaintiffs in the case of litigation.

Gustafson’s motion seeks to stay Nantucket’s lawsuit to “promote judicial economy” while the project is under review.

“After its reconsideration proceedings, BOEM likely will take a further agency action, and that action may affect – and possibly moot –Plaintiffs’ claims,” DoJ said, adding: “To avoid potentially needless or wasteful litigation, the Court should remand the COP approval and enter a stay.”

Ocean Winds said it “intends to vigorously defend our permits in federal court.”

It said its “rigorous four-year review... reflected an extensive public process that incorporated feedback from federal and state government agencies, commercial ocean users, Tribal Nations, and many other stakeholders.”

Remand impacts

Trump’s permit remand “threatens to stall broader American energy deployment, increase electric bills for millions of businesses and families, jeopardise thousands of jobs, and damage our country's credibility on the global stage,” said Liz Burdock, CEO of industry advocacy group Oceantic Network.

The $6bn project is slated to invest some $2bn in maritime industry procurement, including a $500m towards a new vessel with Louisiana-based shipbuilder Edison Chouest.

The Trump administration has made reviving the nation’s shipyards a particular focus while decimating the one industry – offshore wind – that is widely procuring new vessels.

SouthCoast, formerly known as Mayflower Wind, has seen multiple setbacks over its some decade of development.

Two projects contracted in separate tenders by Massachusetts totalling 1.2GW were cancelled in late 2023 as low-priced power purchase agreements (PPAs) floundered beneath surging inflation that spiralled sector costs by 50%.

Former partner Shell then dropped out of the array last year, leaving it to Ocean Winds to develop

Massachusetts re-contracted 1GW of capacity in September last year, with Rhode Island taking another 200MW, but has so far failed to sign PPAs with local utilities amid Trump’s sector chaos.

New England offshore wind

The geographically small and densely populated southern New England states of Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island have long targeted offshore wind to deliver their climate and energy goals.

These states have little space for onshore renewables or ready access to natural gas pipelines, which is reflected in their high electricity rates.

Connecticut mandates 2GW of offshore wind by 2030 to enable its 2040 clean grid requirements. The state declined to participate in last year’s tristate sector procurement with its neighbours, however, while the 304MW it has contracted from Orsted’s Revolution Wind is now in significant jeopardy on the Trump stop-work order.

Rhode Island’s stipulated clean grid by 2033 on up to 1.2GW of offshore wind is also in turmoil as its initial 400MW is also in Revolution.

Massachusetts, the biggest of the three and the main driver of industry development, mandates 5.6GW under contract by 2027, while its net-zero by 2050 target could require some 20GW of sector development.

The Bay State hosts the nation’s first fully permitted array, the Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners-Iberdrola’s 800MW Vineyard Wind currently under construction the Massachusetts WEA.

The project has faced issues with its construction as well as litigation, and its commissioning has been delayed to at least the end of this year.

Iberdrola's US subsidiary Avangrid's 791MW New England Wind is also under scrutiny and litigation and the firm has already indicated its future remains at risk.

Interior secretary Doug Burgum has declared that US offshore wind has "no future" under Trump.