White House says Orsted Remains ‘Committed’ to U.S. Offshore Wind

WASHINGTON, Nov 6 (Reuters) – Denmark’s Orsted  is still “committed” to developing offshore wind farms in the United States despite the company’s cancellation of two projects off the coast of New Jersey, White House senior advisor John Podesta told Reuters on Monday.

Podesta spoke with the company after its shock decision last week, he said in an interview. The discussion underscores the Biden administration’s keen interest in offshore wind to further the nation’s climate change goals by adding zero-emissions power generation.

“Orsted is moving forward with one of its projects here. I think they remain committed to the U.S. market,” Podesta said, referring to a project in New York.

The world’s biggest offshore wind company last week said it would cease all development on the New Jersey Ocean Wind projects, triggering anger from New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy.

Podesta, who oversees implementation of Biden’s landmark climate-change law, the Inflation Reduction Act, said early project proposals like Orsted’s were hit with high interest rates and supply chain challenges, making U.S. project development around 25% more expensive than in Europe.

Those costs will come down “over time, as more investment happens,” he said.

“We remain optimistic that at the end of the day it will be a good-news story and we’ll get these projects on track.”

Podesta also said he spoke with Murphy after the decision.

“Even though the economics have become more challenging than they were a year or two ago, I think they’re still basically… on track and the region needs the power,” he said.

“We’re going to ensure that there is success there and we’re trying to do everything we can to make that happen.”

The administration has a goal of permitting 30 gigawatts of offshore wind capacity by 2030. Last week, a senior administration official said that target was still achievable despite widespread industry doubts.

CALIFORNIA SOLAR PROJECTS RUNNING

Also on Monday, the administration outlined its progress in meeting a congressional mandate to permit 25 gigawatts of renewable energy on public lands by 2025.

Expanding renewable energy development on public lands is a key pillar of Biden’s plan to decarbonize the U.S. electricity grid by 2035.

In a statement, the Department of Interior said two major solar energy projects on federal land in Riverside County, California were fully operational. The projects, Oberon Solar and Arlington Solar, are capable of generating 864 megawatts of electricity combined.

The agency also said it had achieved permitting milestones for transmission lines in the western U.S., including the approval of construction for a line in Arizona to connect solar energy to the grid.

Interior said it had made progress on environmental reviews for eight other solar projects in California and Nevada. Interior’s Bureau of Land Management is currently processing 66 utility-scale clean energy projects in western states, the agency said.