America’s Offshore Wind Industry Is Growing Despite Trump’s Crackdown

The United States was slow to embrace offshore wind, with its first small-scale commercial wind farm coming online in 2016. It would take another eight years before the country launched its first utility-scale offshore wind project in 2024. While many other countries around the globe were rapidly developing offshore wind projects as part of energy diversification strategies, the United States mainly pursued solar photovoltaics and onshore wind projects.The United States has significant potential to develop its offshore wind capacity, but it has only just begun to construct commercial offshore wind projects. According to the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), the United States has over 4,000 GW of technical resource potential, or 13,500 terawatt-hours (TWh) of generation per year in federal waters and the Great Lakes. While it is not possible to fully realise the potential, tapping even a small share of offshore wind could help the U.S. reduce its dependence on fossil fuels and support a green transition.In recent decades, the DOE has invested in offshore wind research and development to better understand the energy source’s potential and attract private investment in the sector. The DOE has earmarked over $300 million for offshore wind research, development, and demonstration projects. Nevertheless, the strict bureaucratic processes associated with offshore wind development have stalled permitting in the past, partially explaining why so many other countries raced ahead of the U.S. in capacity development.The 30-MW Block Island Wind Farm, the first major offshore wind farm to be developed in the United States, came online in 2016. The $300-million, five-turbine wind farm was developed by Deepwater Wind. The Biden administration was highly supportive of offshore wind development, setting a target to deploy 30 GW of offshore wind by 2030. Growing the country’s portfolio from 30 MW to 30 GW in around a decade would be no easy feat; however, under the Biden administration, several international wind energy companies announced major investment pledges in the sector. This was driven by the introduction of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) in August 2022, which provided a wide range of economic incentives for offshore wind development. The introduction of several subsequent state-level policies encouraged further investment.The Biden-Harris administration approved a total of 11 commercial-scale offshore wind energy projects in federal waters during its term, which, if all developed, were expected to provide a total clean electricity output of 19 GW. In 2024, the first commercial-scale offshore wind farm (greater than 100 MW) came online. The 132-MW South Fork Wind began operations with 12 turbines in federal waters off New York.Several international wind energy majors, such as Ørsted, Iberdrola, and Equinor, began developing projects under the Biden administration, committing billions of dollars of investment to rapidly expand the country’s clean energy production capacity. However, when President Trump came into office for his second term in January 2025, the outlook for offshore wind immediately looked bleaker.Trump issued orders halting the development or operation of individual wind projects, resulting in numerous lawsuits. Several courts have since entered suspension orders against wind project operators. However, several judges have been thwarting Trump’s war on wind power by allowing operators to continue construction on various projects. Earlier this year, a U.S. federal judge ruled against the Trump administration and allowed companies developing five permitted East Coast wind farms to continue construction, after Trump tried to prevent them from being built.Despite Trump’s ongoing attacks on wind power, several operators have successfully completed development or are nearing completion. Ørsted’s $6.2-billion Revolution Wind offshore project finally came online in November after months of uncertainty and legal action. The wind farm can produce up to 704 MW of clean power from 65 turbines at full capacity. Revolution Wind became the third utility-scale offshore wind farm to reach full commercial operations in the United States, after South Fork Wind and Vineyard Wind near Massachusetts.Ørsted stated, “Revolution Wind will provide enough electricity to power the equivalent of more than 350,000 New England homes, strengthening the region’s supply of affordable, reliable energy.” The Danish firm has agreed to sell clean electricity to three utilities in the area: Rhode Island Energy, Eversource Energy, and United Illuminating.Before Trump began his second term in office last year, BloombergNEF projected that the U.S. would build 39 gigawatts of offshore wind by 2035. It has since revised its forecast downward to just 5.9 GW, reflecting the projects that were already completed or under construction at the start of last year. Nevertheless, this figure marks extraordinary growth from the 30 MW of offshore capacity in 2016.The United States has significant potential to expand its offshore wind capacity, having demonstrated that investors are interested in financing commercial projects under the right policy conditions. While progress has stalled under the Trump administration, and no new license approvals can be expected while Trump remains in power, the 5.9 GW offshore wind forecast demonstrates the determination of several companies to continue developing projects, as well as the support for clean energy from courts and consumers.By Felicity Bradstock for Oilprice.comMore Top Reads From Oilprice.com$7 Billion in Oil Debt Has Nigerian Banks Holding Back LendingFusion's Next Race Is Over Superconducting Tape, Not PlasmaGlobal Power Grid Expansion Surges 50% to Record High