MarAd, DOT Pull $679 Million In Wind Project Funding
On August 29, U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy announced the withdrawal or termination of $679 million in federal funding for 12 offshore wind projects across America —including planned “wind ports” designed to support them. The cancellation is part a broad pivot by the Trump administration away from renewable energy projects funded by the Biden administration. On his first day in office, President Donald Trump signed a “temporary” executive order pausing all federal wind permits that remain in place, with no timeline given for its ending.
“This action will ensure federal dollars are prioritized towards restoring America’s maritime dominance and preventing waste,” the Department of Transportation announced on its website.
“Wasteful wind projects are using resources that could otherwise go towards revitalizing America’s maritime industry,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy.
The Trump administration has said it wants to refocus the Department of Transportation (DOT) and the Maritime Administration (MarAd) on “rebuilding America’s shipbuilding capacity, unleashing more reliable, traditional forms of energy and utilizing the nation’s bountiful natural resources to unleash American energy,” according to the DOT. The agency added, “Where possible, funding from these projects will be recompeted to address critical port upgrades and other core infrastructure needs of the United States.”
The DOT and MarAd have withdrawn six projects and terminated five, resulting in a total retraction of $177 million and roughly $75 million, respectively.
The withdrawn projects include Sparrows Point Steel Marshalling Port Project (PIDP, $47,392,500); Bridgeport Port Authority Operations and Maintenance Wind Port Project (PIDP, $10.53 million); Wind Pot at Paulsboro, N.J. (PIDP, $20,494,025); Arthur Kill Terminal (PIDP, $48,008,231); Gateway Upgrades for Access, Resiliency and Development at the Port of Davisville, R.I., Project (PIDP, $11.25 million); Norfolk Offshore Wind Logistics Port (PIDP, $39.265 million); and Humbolt Bay Offshore Wind (INFRA, $426,719,810).
Terminated projects include Redwood Marine Terminal Project Planning (PIDP, $8,672,986); Salem Wind Port Project (PIDP, $33,835,953); Lake Erie Renewable Energy Resilience Project (PIDP, $11,051,586); Radio Island Rail Improvements in Support of Offshore Wind (PIDP, $1,679,604); and PMT Offshore Wind Development (PIDP, $20 million).
The “marshalling” projects provide logistics support, without which most of the offshore wind projects cannot move forward. The New Jersey Wind Port in Salem County, for example, was described as New Jersey’s “crown jewel investment.” More than $600 million has already been invested, according to its project website, to create “a unique development that can accommodate co-located manufacturing and marshalling,” which is the final assembly of components before being installed in the ocean.
The biggest single cancellation was of the Humboldt Bay Offshore Wind project, for which construction has not yet begun. It would have involved creating the Pacific Coast’s first heavy-lift marine terminal to support offshore wind development in the Humboldt Wind Energy Area (WEA), 20 miles offshore. The project would have served as a facility for the staging, integration and assembly of floating offshore wind turbine components, with operations planned to start by 2029. Its backers hoped it would become a hub for the offshore wind industry. The operation’s core was to be a 180-acre terminal at Humboldt Bay, designed for heavy-lift operations to handle and assemble off
shore wind components.
The moves drew criticism from wind developers that have invested billions in the projects, as well as governors of states where they are located.
