Developers behind New York’s offshore wind projects are grappling with the prospect of billions of dollars in potentially lost value for renewable energy farms off the coast of Long Island. The downturn comes on the heels of a Monday executive order signed by President Donald Trump that suspends new federal offshore wind leasing and scrutinizes existing leases to possibly change or cancel those deals.
Norwegian energy developer Equinor is likely to take a financial blow due to its Empire Wind 1 project, which is planned for waters south of Nassau County. Energy analyst Tom-Erik Kristiansen at Midtown-based investment bank Pareto Securities estimated in a Tuesday memo that Equinor is at risk of a roughly $1.1 billion hit to the value of its Empire Wind project.
Equinor is in the midst of accessing Trump’s executive order and its impact on the 810-megawatt wind farm and on its nearby Empire Wind 2 project. “We will continue to assess all policy developments and work with the Trump administration as we deliver long-term energy solutions for the growing American economy,” Equinor spokesman David Schoetz told Crain’s.
The offshore wind industry has been bracing for a renewable energy-volatile Trump administration since November’s election win. In the wake of that reality, Danish energy giant Ørsted late Monday announced a $1.7 billion fourth-quarter loss in the value of its Sunrise Wind farm, which is planned for waters east of Montauk. Ørsted chalks up the impairment in large part to the project’s continued supply chain and construction challenges; Sunrise Wind was expected to be operational in 2026 but is now anticipated for 2027.
The 924-megawatt offshore wind farm is in the process of being built and is less likely to be upended by Monday’s order, but uncertainty abounds, said Ørsted’s chief executive.
“We, of course, have taken note of the executive order,” said Mads Nipper on a Tuesday call with analysts. “We are in the process of reviewing it to assess the impact on our portfolio.”
The tricky financials do not bode well for New York achieving its ambitious clean energy targets under the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act, which the state Legislature passed in 2019. The law directs New York to draw 70% of its electricity from renewable sources by 2030 and to rely entirely on renewables by 2050 — that’s supposed to include offshore wind projects with a capacity of at least 9,000 megawatts by 2035. The state is already struggling to comply with the law.
Deanna Cohen, a spokeswoman for the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority, which has signed off on energy contracts for Sunrise Wind and Empire Wind, insisted it is too soon to know if the Trump administration’s executive order will curb the state’s renewable energy ambitions. The order will almost certainly be challenged in court.
Renewable energy boosters panned the Trump administration’s executive order and the impacts it promises to have, if implemented, on businesses and regional economic development, along with the Monday declaration of a national energy emergency to speed up oil and gas infrastructure projects. The Trump administration similarly issued an executive order on Monday withdrawing the U.S. from the Paris Agreement, making the nation one of just four countries outside of the global accord that is designed to reduce planet-warming emissions.
“The contradiction between the energy-focused executive orders is stark,” said Jason Grumet, chief executive of the Washington, D.C.-based trade group the American Clean Power Association, in a statement. “While on one hand the administration seeks to reduce bureaucracy and unleash energy production, on the other it increases bureaucratic barriers, undermining domestic energy development and harming American businesses and workers.”
