The French company TotalEnergies and the US government have agreed on a deal worth almost a billion dollars that will put an end to offshore wind projects. The money will instead go to the production of fossil fuels. This was stated by the US Secretary of the Interior, Doug Burgum, according to the AFP news agency during a conference in Houston.
- We are entering into a partnership with TotalEnergies to free up almost a billion dollars, says Burgum, who calls wind energy "expensive" and "weather-dependent".
The French company TotalEnergies had plans for a three-gigawatt offshore wind project off New York and a one-gigawatt project in North Carolina. But at the end of 2024, TotalEnergies' CEO, Patrick Pouyanne, announced that the projects had been put on hold, as they did not expect to be able to get approval from the Trump administration.
Compensated dollar for dollar
The US government is now agreeing to compensate the French company "dollar for dollar" for the purchase of lease rights. This is stated by the US Department of the Interior in a press release.
Pouyanne was present on Monday when Burgum announced the agreement. The French CEO welcomed the agreement and said that it sends investments worth 928 million dollars - almost six billion Danish kroner - from wind farms to natural gas projects. In particular, a large project in Texas.
It is well known that US President Donald Trump wants less offshore wind, which former President Joe Biden had otherwise started to expand. Trump has called offshore wind expensive and ugly.
According to the US Department of the Interior, the French company has now promised not to build new offshore wind projects in the US. According to the US, this is also happening "in light of national security concerns".
Analyst doubts similar agreement for Ørsted
The Trump administration's policy has also hit the Danish Ørsted. The US has tried to stop work on the two offshore wind farms Revolution Wind and Sunrise Wind. That dispute is still ongoing.
Analyst at Sydbank Jacob Pedersen tells EnergiWatch that Ørsted should not expect to get an agreement similar to TotalEnergies. The Danish company is much further along with its projects, one of which has started delivering electricity.
- Total is being bought out of two projects that have only just been signed. There is thus a long way to go for the projects that Ørsted is involved in, which are much longer and which, if other settlements were made, would cost the US treasury many billions, says Jacob Pedersen.
/ritzau/AFP
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