US Offshore Wind Industry Lives To Fight Another Day

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Bruised, not broken: That’s the message from the US offshore wind industry trade association Oceantic Network. Are they hallucinating? US offshore stakeholders suffered an all but lethal blow from the vengeful pen of President Trump, who abruptly suspended the federal offshore lease program upon taking office. Nevertheless, the winds will blow across the waters of the US long after Trump leaves office — peacefully — on January 20, 2029, and the industry is already gearing up for another crack at it.

The US Offshore Wind Industry Is Bruised…

In addition to blocking future commitments from the federal offshore lease program, Trump also dipped his sticky fingers into projects already underway. He revoked the final permit for the Atlantic Shores project off the coast of New Jersey, despite the fact that the final permit was issued months ago, and final normally means final. So much for the sacred word of the US government. Even more notably, last month Trump also ordered the Norwegian firm Equinor to stop work on its the Empire Wind project in New York State, even though construction was well underway.

The global powerhouses behind the two projects can write off their losses. It’s not so easy for smaller firms in the domestic supply chain, and there are many. The trade organization Oceantic Network calculates that 102 US firms have (or had) contracts for Empire Wind alone. Located in red and blue states alike, those 102 businesses support (or supported) about 3,500 jobs.

“Empire Wind’s supply chain has brought more than $1.6 billion in investments to the U.S. This includes substantial investments in Texas, South Carolina, Louisiana, Ohio, and Kansas,’ Oceantic Network also notes.

…But Not Broken (Yet)

Coincidentally or not, both Atlantic Shores and Empire Wind are (or were) under the wing of reliably blue-voting states with Democratic governors. It’s a different story for the offshore wind industry over in the purple state of Virginia, where Republican Governor Glenn Youngkin still holds office.

Virginia is the host state for the leading US energy firm Dominion Energy, which is more than halfway through construction of  the massive Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind project. “Construction on Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind (CVOW), the largest offshore wind project in the United States, is progressing on schedule,” Dominion affirms on its website.

CVOW started construction with onshore activities in 2023, and the first six offshore monopiles went into the seabed in May of 2024. Once complete, the project will include 176 Siemens Gamesa turbines with a capacity of 14.7 megawatts each, for an impressive total of 2.6 gigawatts.

In March of this year, Dominion added the first offshore substation, putting the project at more than 55% complete and on track for commissioning in 2026.

Or, not as the case may be. If Governor Youngkin’s party identification has protected CVOW from the Trump battle axe so far, the results of the state’s upcoming 2025 gubernatorial election could put the project at risk. Youngkin is term-limited out of the running. The Democrats have tapped US Representative Abigail Spanberger to run against the new Republican candidate, and the only Republican who qualified for the party’s June 17 primary election is current Lieutenant Governor Winsome Earle-Sears.

The US Offshore Wind Industry Refuses To Die, Already

The prospects for another Republican crack at the governorship have already dimmed in the aftermath of the drastic federal workforce cuts imposed by the Trump-Musk continuum alongside Trump’s unforced trade wars and history-making (for all the wrong reasons) first 100 days in office. Last week, Youngkin added fuel to the political dumpster fire by objecting to the presence of John Reid on the ballot as the Republican candidate to replace Earle-Sears as Lieutenant Governor.

If this election cycle turns out to be a win for the Democrats in November, it could be a loss for Dominion and CVOW. After all, Trump has made a habit of ripping up contracts and rampaging through the pages of the US Constitution like a rabid ferret in a tub of Cool Whip. Construction timeline or not, CVOW could be stopped in its tracks.

On its part, Dominion appears to be prepared to take its lumps. In the company’s May 1 earnings call, reported in detail by the news organization Hart Energy, Dominion Energy CEO Bob Blue indicated that while a shutdown of the offshore project would be highly unlikely, the company is prepared for the worst.

“During the call, an analyst asked what the company would do if the administration ordered CVOW to halt construction,” Hart Energy reported. “Blue said the company would have to evaluate the facts and circumstances.”

On the plus side, Blue asserted that CVOW is “the fastest way to get 2.6 gigawatts on the grid.” He cited tech companies, defense and security installations, and shipbuilding among the key industries supported by CVOW, along with 2,000 jobs. “Stopping it would cause energy inflation,” he emphasized.

Never Give Up, Never Surrender

Politically speaking, another interesting twist in Virginia’s offshore wind journey cropped up on April 28, when Governor Youngkin joined with offshore wind stakeholders to celebrate the official start of construction on a major new subsea cable factory. Located in Chesapeake, Virginia, the new facility comes under the wing of LS GreenLink USA, a branch of the leading Korean firm LS Cable & System.

The new facility represents “a substantial investment in the American supply chain that will supply submarine power cables for domestic and international offshore wind projects for a projected global capacity of more than 380 GW of offshore wind by 2030,” Oceantic Network enthused in a press statement.

The timing of the groundbreaking ceremony was particularly notable because it highlighted the multi-day 2025 International Partnering Forum hosted by Oceantic in Virginia, which billed the event as “the largest offshore renewable energy conference in the Americas.” That’s a rather bold move considering the hostile environment for offshore wind in the US, but Oceantic is not backing down. The organization is already planning next year’s conference in New York.

“Today’s groundbreaking for LS GreenLink’s Chesapeake cable facility marks a pivotal moment for Virginia and America’s national offshore wind supply chain,” added Oceantic president and CEO Liz Burdock.

The reason for optimism is not particularly obscure, and it’s not hallucinatory. The US has accumulated decades of experience and assets in the offshore oil and gas field. A meaningful portion of those resources and know-how have already transferred over to the offshore wind field. None of that is going away.  If all goes according to plan, the domestic wind industry can sustain key parts of itself by courting demand for offshore wind components elsewhere around the globe.

As Burdock stated, the $700 million LS investment in the new cable facility represents the “global industry’s commitment to the U.S. market, creating hundreds of long-term American jobs and manufacturing American-made energy components for the pipeline of domestic and international offshore wind projects.”

“Thanks to the leadership of Dominion Energy, support from Governor Youngkin and other elected officials, and cornerstone supply chain investments like this, Virginia is rapidly emerging as a premier offshore wind hub in the U.S.,” Burdock emphasized.

What do you think, is Burdock dreaming? Or is Oceantic simply counting down the 1,358 days remaining in Trump’s second and final rampage through the US government.

Photo: The Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind project has been spared from the Trump chopping block for now, and offshore stakeholders are already anticipating an industry-wide comeback (courtesy of Dominion Energy via CleanTechnica archives).