RWE Abandons US Wind Projects After Trump Deal

German energy group RWE said it will abandon its planned offshore wind projects in the United States after agreeing a $1.2bn (£892m) payment settlement with President Donald Trump’s Department of the Interior (DoI).

RWE said it will use the payout to shift away from offshore wind development and reinvest in conventional gas projects. The company said $900m (£669m) of the sum would go towards a liquefied natural gas (LNG) export terminal project in Louisiana.

No Path For Permits, RWE Says

RWE said that after reviewing its options, it concluded there was no route to secure permission for the offshore projects in the US in the foreseeable future.

The company said it has agreed to give up its offshore leases covering areas off the coasts of California and Louisiana, as well as the New York Bight.

$900m To LNG Terminal In Louisiana

RWE said it will reinvest the $1.2bn into gas-focused developments, including the Louisiana terminal. It also said the decision forms part of a broader plan to direct investment towards increasing its generation capacity in the US.

The German firm said it intends to invest about €17bn (£14.5bn; $19.6bn) in the country over the next six years as part of that growth programme.

Trump Administration Continues Offshore Wind Halt

Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said in a post on X that Americans deserve an energy system built around “common sense”, rather than one reliant on what he described as costly subsidies. Burgum said the DoI welcomed RWE’s agreement and its decision to invest in projects intended to support US energy security.

The RWE move adds to a series of deals agreed by the Trump administration this year aimed at stopping offshore wind development.

Trump, who has backed the fossil fuel industry, has repeatedly pushed to end offshore wind projects. After returning to office, he said the administration was not going ahead with “the wind thing”, and he described offshore wind turbines as dangerous to wildlife.

Recent Agreements With Other Companies

In March 2026, the DoI reached an agreement with TotalEnergies to end the French company’s offshore wind work in the US. TotalEnergies said it would instead re-route investment towards building an LNG facility in Texas and developing “upstream conventional oil” in the Gulf of Mexico.

Last month, the administration also signed a similar large-scale deal with Duke Energy, a Charlotte-based utility. The agreement, worth $129bn (£96bn), was made in return for Duke ending its offshore wind lease covering the Carolina Long Bay area.

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7 August 2026

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