France's TotalEnergies Walks Away From U.S. Offshore Wind in Boost to Trump's Push Against Windpower — Update

By Joshua Kirby

TotalEnergies said it would no longer develop any offshore wind-power projects in the U.S., bowing to efforts by the Trump administration to curtail a sector the president opposes.

The French energy major said Monday that it had reached agreements with the U.S. Department of the Interior to relinquish its leases at Carolina Long Bay and New York Bight.

"As a result, TotalEnergies will no longer develop offshore wind projects in the United States," it said.

The decision aligns with the Trump administration's energy policy, said Patrick Pouyanne, the company's chief executive.

"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," Pouyanne said.

President Trump has long opposed offshore wind developments and his administration last year ordered a halt to construction on all projects in the sector, many of which are operated by European energy firms. Denmark's Orsted, a major developer, and Norwegian oil-and-gas giant Equinor have both been granted legal approval to continue construction after filing an injunction against the order at the start of the year.

TotalEnergies will be repaid the lease fees it paid, and will invest an equal amount in the development of oil and gas production in the U.S, it said. The funds will be used in part to develop a plant producing liquefied natural gas at Rio Grande in Texas, Pouyanne said.

The redirected investment is worth around $1 billion, the Interior Department said.

"We welcome TotalEnergies' commitment to developing projects that produce dependable, affordable power to lower Americans' monthly bills while providing secure U.S. baseload power today-and in the future," Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum said.

Even before Trump returned to office last year, offshore projects had proved a headache for many energy firms. In 2023, Orsted, Equinor and British major BP booked impairments totaling nearly $5 billion as costs spiraled, suppliers lagged and regulators refused to allow firms to haggle for higher power-purchase prices.

The costs for development of offshore turbine farms now look too high to be worth continuing, TotalEnergies said.

"Since other technologies are available to meet the growing demand for electricity in the United States in a more affordable way, TotalEnergies considers there is no need to allocate capital to this technology in the U.S.," the company said.

Write to Joshua Kirby at joshua.kirby@wsj.com; @joshualeokirby

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

March 23, 2026 13:11 ET (17:11 GMT)