EDP boss suggests putting 2.4GW SouthCoast offshore wind farm on hold for Trump term

It comes as the company – which it is developing the project through its Ocean Winds 50:50 joint venture with Engie – takes a €133 million impairment charge on its US offshore wind business.

The 2.4GW SouthCoast wind project, to be constructed off the coast of Massachusetts, has received full permitting and is “ready to go”, EDP and EDPR chief executive Miguel Stilwell d’Andrade said in a webcast for the company’s full year results. However, he added that a four-year delay would be more “prudent” for timing, considering the flurry of  executive orders issued by Trump on 20 January.

On this day, Trump issued an executive order calling for an indefinite pause on seabed leasing for offshore wind on the country’s outer continental shelf. He also ordered a review of existing offshore wind seabed leases and asked federal agencies to stop issuing permits for wind farms – onshore or offshore.

Stilwell d’Andrade added that the delay is a “worst-case scenario”. 

The US government’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) approved the construction and operations plan for SouthCoast Wind in the final days of outgoing president Joe Biden’s tenure. Construction was originally slated to start this year. 

This was the final BOEM approval needed for the project following the US interior department’s record of decision in December 2024. However, shortly afterwards, Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources, along with the utilities Unitil, Massachusetts Electric Company, National Grid and Eversource Energy, postponed signing contracts with the project.

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