Overview
- RWE and the U.S. Department of the Interior finalized the deal on Friday returning offshore leases off New York, California and Louisiana in exchange for about $1.22 billion.
- RWE says it had already sunk more than $1 billion into those early-stage projects and concluded they are unlikely to win permits in the foreseeable future, with operations not expected until the 2030s if pursued.
- The company plans to redeploy roughly $900 million toward a Louisiana LNG project and about $300 million to expand gas-fired capacity and turbines across the United States.
- The agreement is the fifth and largest this year under the Trump administration’s effort to halt U.S. offshore wind development, a policy the Interior Department framed as protecting affordable, reliable energy.
- Analysts and advocates warn the deals shift capital from clean power to fossil fuels, which could slow U.S. emissions reductions and reshape jobs and supply chains even as RWE says it will keep developing offshore wind outside the United States.