A temporary halt to the development of offshore wind farms off the coast of the US state of New Jersey will become permanent.
This is what US President Donald Trump says, according to the Reuters news agency.
A number of Democratic governors came together in a joint statement at the beginning of September, in which they asked Trump to maintain permits for offshore wind projects.
These are governors from the states of New York, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island and New Jersey.
During the autumn, the Trump administration has tried to stop several offshore wind projects – including Ørsted’s offshore wind farm Revolution Wind, located off the coast of Rhode Island.
Trump has repeatedly criticized wind for being an unreliable source of energy and for being ugly.
Ørsted’s offshore wind farm is almost completed and was scheduled to be put into operation next year.
The Danish company announced in connection with the construction stoppage that it would comply with the order, but that it would enter into dialogue with the relevant supervisory authorities about the matter.
In 2023, the Danish energy company Ørsted made a decision to stop the wind turbine projects Ocean Wind 1 and Ocean Wind 2 in New Jersey.
The reason for stopping the projects was, among other things, problems in the supply chains and rising interest rates.
This resulted in billions in write-downs and did not go down well with New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy.
In 2024, the company reached a settlement with New Jersey for DKK 850 million.
Ørsted continues to have active projects in the states of Rhode Island, Maryland, Connecticut and New York.
The company has faced strong headwinds on the stock market in recent years and announced in early October that it would reduce the number of employees globally from 8,000 to 6,000 by the end of 2027.
New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy did not immediately respond to Trump’s statement.
It is not clear when the permanent stop will be implemented.
