Offshore Wind’s Answer To Every Problem: More Subsidies

What level of government subsidization is enough for America’s rent-seeking wind industry? It is a question policymakers must consider now in light of new demands coming from the industry’s leaders.

Reuters reports that spokespeople for Equinor, Engie, and EDP Renewables are now pressing Biden administration officials to rewrite and loosen the rules around federal government subsidy programs to pour even more debt-funded money into America’s nascent offshore wind industry. This would be a natural move for Biden and his regulator to make, given the huge effort the government has made to promote this unneeded industry and speed its permitting along despite growing concerns over its impacts to marine mammals and the commercial fishing industry.

"The components needed for our projects to progress simply do not exist in the U.S. at this time, and we see no signs that the supply chain will be ready in time to meet our procurement schedule," Reuters quotes David Marks, a spokesperson for Norway-based Equinor as saying. While that might sound like a management problem to most in the business world, executives in the wind industry consider it to be another reason to ask the government for more money.

On the same day, Bloomberg reported that Mads Nipper, CEO of big wind developer Orsted, is now threatening to “walk away” from its plans for U.S. offshore wind if the government doesn’t fork over more subsidies. “We are still upholding a real option to walk away,” Nipper said in an interview in London. “But right now, we are still working towards a final investment decision” on the company’s U.S. projects. Nipper’s remarks came after his company booked $8 billion in impairments related to its U.S. projects due to changing market conditions.