The administration of U.S. President Donald Trump has announced that it will pay nearly $1 billion to French energy giant "Total Energies" in exchange for the company abandoning its plans to build wind farms in the Atlantic Ocean. Instead, the administration of the U.S. President will ask the company to focus on fossil fuel projects in the U.S., writes "CNN".
The current administration is putting obstacles at every turn for wind farms, a type of energy that Trump has personally criticized for years. Last year, Trump's Department of the Interior took the step of halting federal permits for renewable energy projects. It's a move that has effectively killed off early-stage offshore wind projects.
The government is currently paying Total Energies back federal leases that the company purchased under former President Joe Biden's administration to develop two wind farms off the coast of New York and North Carolina. The Justice Department will use nearly $1 billion in taxpayer funds to reimburse the company for the money it spent buying leases during the Biden administration.
The money will also go toward developing oil drilling in the Gulf of Mexico and shale oil projects elsewhere in the United States. "Given that the development of offshore wind projects is not in the national interest, we have decided to abandon the development of offshore wind farms in the United States in exchange for a refund of the lease fees," Total Energies CEO Patrick Pouyanne said in a statement.
According to him, these investments will contribute to the supply of much-needed liquefied natural gas from the United States to Europe and will provide gas for the development of data centers in the United States.
However, some energy companies have publicly stated that they will demand their money back under lease agreements if the Trump administration does not allow them to develop wind farm projects. Leases for several undeveloped offshore wind projects off the coasts of the Atlantic, Pacific and Gulf of Mexico total more than $5 billion, and that doesn't include additional pre-development costs incurred by developers.
For example, German renewable energy company "RWE", which paid more than $1.2 billion for three leases off the coasts of New York, California and the Gulf of Mexico, is among the companies expecting to be reimbursed. "If we never get the right to build the plants, I assume we will get back the money we have already paid. And if necessary, through legal action," RWE Chief Executive Officer Markus Kroeber threatened. A spokesman for "RWE" declined to comment on whether the company was in active talks with the federal government or how much money it was seeking.