Trump Administration To Pay German Firm $1.2 Billion To Halt US Wind Projects (bbc.com)
(Friday August 07, 2026 @11:30PM (BeauHD)
from the war-against-windmills dept.)
- Reference: 0184894148
- News link: https://hardware.slashdot.org/story/26/08/07/2157219/trump-administration-to-pay-german-firm-12-billion-to-halt-us-wind-projects
- Source link: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c1e1vg0gjl5o
An anonymous reader quotes a report from the BBC:
> German energy company RWE has said it [1]will abandon its offshore wind projects in the U.S . after reaching a $1.2 billion payout deal with President Donald Trump's Department of the Interior (DoI). RWE said that it will now reinvest the sum into conventional gas projects, including $900 million in a liquefied natural gas (LNG) export terminal project in Louisiana. "After careful consideration, it was determined there is no path forward to permit these projects in the US for the foreseeable future," the company said in a statement.
>
> RWE said it has agreed to relinquish its leases off the California and Louisiana coasts as well as in the New York Bight. Overall, the German firm plans to invest approximately $19.6 billion in the U.S. over the next six years "to grow its generation capacity." Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said in a statement [2]posted on X that Americans deserve an energy system built on common sense and not one dependent on "costly subsidies." "We welcome RWE's agreement and voluntary investment in projects that strengthen our nation's energy security," he added.
Earlier this year, the DOL [3]reached a deal with TotalEnergies putting an end to the French company's offshore wind projects in the U.S. "Instead, the firm agreed to [4]reroute investment to build a LNG plant in Texas and to develop 'upstream conventional oil' in the Gulf of Mexico," reports the BBC.
Another [5]similar deal was signed with Charlotte-based Duke Energy last month to terminate the company's offshore wind lease in the Carolina Long Bay area.
[1] https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c1e1vg0gjl5o
[2] https://x.com/SecretaryBurgum/status/2085409733989589124
[3] https://news.slashdot.org/story/26/03/23/2221232/trump-administration-to-pay-french-company-1-billion-to-stop-offshore-wind-farms
[4] https://totalenergies.com/newsroom/united-states-totalenergies-signs-agreements-with-us-department-of-interior-to-end-its-us-offshore-wind-projects/?lang=eng
[5] https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/duke-energy-terminate-north-carolina-offshore-wind-lease-2026-06-29/
> German energy company RWE has said it [1]will abandon its offshore wind projects in the U.S . after reaching a $1.2 billion payout deal with President Donald Trump's Department of the Interior (DoI). RWE said that it will now reinvest the sum into conventional gas projects, including $900 million in a liquefied natural gas (LNG) export terminal project in Louisiana. "After careful consideration, it was determined there is no path forward to permit these projects in the US for the foreseeable future," the company said in a statement.
>
> RWE said it has agreed to relinquish its leases off the California and Louisiana coasts as well as in the New York Bight. Overall, the German firm plans to invest approximately $19.6 billion in the U.S. over the next six years "to grow its generation capacity." Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said in a statement [2]posted on X that Americans deserve an energy system built on common sense and not one dependent on "costly subsidies." "We welcome RWE's agreement and voluntary investment in projects that strengthen our nation's energy security," he added.
Earlier this year, the DOL [3]reached a deal with TotalEnergies putting an end to the French company's offshore wind projects in the U.S. "Instead, the firm agreed to [4]reroute investment to build a LNG plant in Texas and to develop 'upstream conventional oil' in the Gulf of Mexico," reports the BBC.
Another [5]similar deal was signed with Charlotte-based Duke Energy last month to terminate the company's offshore wind lease in the Carolina Long Bay area.
[1] https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c1e1vg0gjl5o
[2] https://x.com/SecretaryBurgum/status/2085409733989589124
[3] https://news.slashdot.org/story/26/03/23/2221232/trump-administration-to-pay-french-company-1-billion-to-stop-offshore-wind-farms
[4] https://totalenergies.com/newsroom/united-states-totalenergies-signs-agreements-with-us-department-of-interior-to-end-its-us-offshore-wind-projects/?lang=eng
[5] https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/duke-energy-terminate-north-carolina-offshore-wind-lease-2026-06-29/
FOR MAGA ONLY (Score:2)
by zeiche ( 81782 )
how, exactly, is spending over a billion dollars to halt a renewable energy project (literally free electricity after the project is paid up minus a little bit of maintenance) Making America Great Again? are you really concerned about the birds? really? what is the reason? do you even have one? or is this just “follow the leader” ? this is a legitimate question. i really want to know.
This administration (Score:2)
by fredrated ( 639554 )
is evil.
Are you sure that's wise? (Score:2)
> ... the German firm plans to invest approximately $19.6 billion in the U.S. over the next six years "to grow its generation capacity."
The US is sufficiently unstable that I would be very hesitant to invest large sums of money there. I realize that server farms built largely to service the AI bubble need LOTS of power. But even if the demand isn't a bubble, do you really want to be investing in a country which is making an enemy of pretty much all of the rest of the world?
I think America is on very shaky ground now, and may not be nearly as far from "failed state" status as many people imagine it is.