The US government secures the abandonment of two major wind farm projects involving Engie

This announcement comes a month after TotalEnergies withdrew from two wind farm contracts. In total, the four agreements were expected to supply some 3,6 million homes with electricity.

The first decision announced on Monday concerns Bluepoint Wind, planned off the coasts of New Jersey and New York to meet the needs of approximately one million homes.

The consortium formed around Bluepoint Wind is composed of the French company Engie, the Portuguese company EDP Renewables and the American investment company Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP), a subsidiary of BlackRock.

The ministry also reported the end of the Golden State Wind program, off the coast of California, which was supposed to provide it with electricity to about 1,1 million homes.

Engie and EDP Renewables were also involved in this consortium through their joint venture Ocean Winds, associated with the investment company Reventus Power.

This decision is yet another illustration of the US government's policy, which is openly opposed to the development of new offshore wind power capacity in the United States.

He is particularly critical of offshore wind power, which most often requires federal authorization.

At the end of March, TotalEnergies and the Trump administration had already signed an agreement formalizing the closure of two offshore wind projects, off the coast of New York and North Carolina.

As part of its transaction with the US government, TotalEnergies had also agreed to shift the $928 million recovered from its two wind farms to LNG (liquefied natural gas) sites.

Projects still underway

Bluepoint Wind's partners will also be fully reimbursed for the sums committed to the project, amounting to $765 million so far.

Meanwhile, GIP has promised federal authorities to make investments of up to $765 million in an LNG (liquefied natural gas) terminal.

In the case of Golden State Wind, the sums committed amounted to $120 million and will also be returned, provided that the project stakeholders commit to financing an equivalent amount of oil and gas infrastructure in the United States.

When contacted by AFP, Engie stressed that Bluepoint Wind and Golden State Wind were both "at an early stage of development", with delivery planned for 2033 for Bluepoint and during the 2030s for Golden State.

Through its joint venture Ocean Winds, Engie "remains fully committed to the development of offshore wind power - mainly in Europe and Asia-Pacific".

In addition to the four abandoned projects, the American president, a climate skeptic and supporter of the oil sector, has tried to block the five most advanced projects in the United States, in the name of national security, without success so far.

Federal justice allowed their continuation. Two of them, off the coast of Rhode Island (Revolution Wind) and Massachusetts (Vineyard Wind), were able to be completed and connected to the electrical grid.

On Monday, the office of Democratic Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey announced that it had negotiated a tariff with Vineyard Wind that should save the facility's customers $1,4 billion over 20 years.

Among the criticisms leveled at wind power by Donald Trump was that it was "the most expensive energy" and that it "only (operates) with massive subsidies," accusations echoed on Monday by Interior Minister Doug Burgum.

Several studies have nevertheless shown that wind power in the United States cost, on average, less than several other sources, including coal, excluding government subsidies.

As for the question of the comparative impact of each energy source on the environment, it was dismissed by the Trump administration.

"President Trump is depriving (the United States) of energy sources and driving up prices with his war on Iran," said Maura Healey. "We should be investing more in wind power to lower costs, create jobs, and make our country more energy independent."

Construction continues on the three other projects: Sunrise Wind in Massachusetts, Empire Wind off the coast of New York, and Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind in Virginia. The latter began generating electricity in March.