US wind projects scrapped as TotalEnergies exits leases

The Trump administration continued its assault on offshore wind this week after reaching an agreement with TotalEnergies that will see the French energy giant halt the construction of all its new projects in US waters.

The Paris-based firm had been planning two wind farms on the Eastern Seaboard: one off the coast of North Carolina and the other off the coast of New York. Neither of these sites will now be completed after the US Government agreed to pay TotalEnergies back nearly US$1bn in lease fees, all from taxpayers' money.

Trump versus wind

Since his second term in office began, the President has made no secret of his distaste for wind energy, calling turbines "losers" during his special address at the World Economic Forum in January.

While President Trump has vied to disrupt the construction of wind farms in the US for months now, he has been thwarted several times over.

One of the first executive orders he signed upon his inauguration called for the indefinite cessation of all wind farm approvals, though this was widely blocked by federal courts.

A subsequent move to pause leases for five major projects already under construction on national security grounds was similarly met with preliminary injunctions, allowing work to proceed.

The agreement he has made with TotalEnergies, however, marks a change in tack. This time, the administration is targeting projects early enough in development that there is no construction to protect.

Assets and infrastructure shifts

TotalEnergies entered the US offshore wind market in 2022, acquiring two leases: one at Carolina Long Bay and another at the New York Bight. Together, the projects had a combined planned capacity of 4GW, with the New York development scheduled to come online in 2029 and the Carolina project in 2031.

Under the terms of the settlement, the company will relinquish both leases and commit to investing an equivalent sum – nearly US$1bn – into US gas and power infrastructure. That includes financing the construction of the 29 Mt Rio Grande LNG plant in Texas, expanding upstream oil operations in the Gulf of Mexico and pursuing shale gas development elsewhere in the country.

TotalEnergies Chair and CEO Patrick Pouyanné was unambiguous in his support for the deal.

"Considering that the development of offshore wind projects is not in the country's interest, we have decided to renounce offshore wind development in the United States, in exchange for the reimbursement of the lease fees," Patrick said.

"These investments will contribute to supplying Europe with much-needed LNG from the US and provide gas for US data centre development. We believe this is a more efficient use of capital in the US."

The company has also separately signed a Letter of Intent with Glenfarne, the lead developer of the Alaska LNG project, for the long-term offtake of two million tonnes per year over 20 years.

Economic and environmental impact

For TotalEnergies, a company that exported 19 million tonnes of US LNG in 2025 alone, pivoting from offshore wind into gas and oil is not exactly a stretch. The company's integrated fossil fuel portfolio made it uniquely well-placed to offer the administration exactly what it wanted in exchange for the reimbursement, something critics note that many pure-play renewable developers simply cannot do.

Interior Secretary Doug Burgum offered a robust defence of the deal.

"Offshore wind is one of the most expensive, unreliable, environmentally disruptive and subsidy-dependent schemes ever forced on American ratepayers and taxpayers," Doug said.

But that framing has drawn pushback from several energy analysts and former officials. Elizabeth Klein, former Director of the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management under the Biden administration, warned that scrapping the New York project in particular – a region already facing an acute electricity shortage – was deeply counterproductive.

"For the current administration to be cutting that off makes no sense at all," Elizabeth said.

The offshore wind industry has been equally blunt. Sam Salustro, SVP of Policy & Market Affairs at the Oceantic Network, described the payment as political theatre at consumers' expense.

"Paying to remove affordable, homegrown energy out of the equation leaves American consumers struggling to pay their electricity bills," Sam said.

A new precedent for the sector

The TotalEnergies settlement may be just the beginning. The leases for undeveloped offshore wind projects across the Atlantic, Pacific and Gulf coasts carry a combined value of more than US$5bn – and some companies have already signalled they expect to be made whole.

RWE, the German renewables giant that paid more than US$1.2bn for three leases off New York, California and the Gulf of Mexico, has been forthright about its expectations.

"If we never get the right to build the plants, I assume we'll get the money we've already paid back. And if necessary, through legal action," RWE CEO Markus Krebber said at a recent press conference.

The Interior Department did not respond to requests for comment on whether further negotiations are under way. What is clear is that the administration has found a mechanism that, unlike its earlier attempts, may prove far harder to challenge in court – and far more expensive for the American taxpayer.

The Interior Department did not respond to requests for comment on whether further negotiations are under way. What is clear is that the administration has found a mechanism that, unlike its earlier attempts, may prove far harder to challenge in court – and far more expensive for the American taxpayer.