Atlantic Shores Offshore Wind, a joint venture between Shell New Energies and EDF Renewables, has filed a request to cancel its wind project off the coast of Atlantic City, New Jersey.
In the request, filed with the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities, the developer listed the Trump administration’s opposition to wind energy and the escalated cost for developing offshore wind projects.
Atlantic Shores was supposed to develop two distinct phases. The first was a 1,510MW project with around $1.9bn in economic benefits to New Jersey. Combined with the second project, the 197 offshore wind turbines would have produced enough clean energy to power more than 1m New Jersey homes and would have a capacity of 2.8GW.
The project development already hit a major bump in the road when one half of the joint venture, Shell, decided to withdraw from the project in February and take a $996m impairment associated with Atlantic Shores. EDF Renewables booked a $980m impairment for the project soon after.
This would not be the only obstacle, as the Trump administration withdrew an air quality permit for the project in March.
Last week, Atlantic Shores petitioned the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities to withdraw its earlier offshore renewable energy certificates order, which allowed the project to start development.
“Due to the uncertainty caused by the Presidential Wind Memorandum, the subsequent loss of the Air Permit, and other actions taken by the current administration more generally, [Atlantic Shore’s] parent company has been forced to materially reduce its personnel, terminate contracts, and cancel planned project investments,” the petition said.
