The Trump administration on Monday suspended leases on five large offshore wind energy projects off the US East Coast, including the one led by Iberdrola in Massachusetts, in what amounts to a devastating blow to the development of this type of renewable energy in the country.

The Department of the Interior “is suspending, effective immediately, the lease agreements for all projects Large-scale offshore wind projects under construction in the United States are being halted due to national security risks identified by the Department of Defense in recently prepared classified reports,” the department said in a statement. The statement did not provide further details on what those “national security risks” are. Connecticut Senator Chris Murphy protested Trump's order on his Twitter account: “Trump's war on wind energy is out of control and totally illegal. Our project in Connecticut is almost finished. And now we're going back to court, for the second time, to stop another illegal order. All Trump is doing is destroying jobs and driving up energy prices,” he complained. In addition to Vineyard Wind 1, the wind farm being developed by Iberdrola off the coast of Massachusetts, which is already partially operational, the other four affected projects are Revolution Wind and Sunrise Wind in Rhode Island, CVOW – Commercial near Virginia, and Empire Wind 1 off the coast of New York, which has had the participation of the Spanish engineering firm Esteyco.

Vineyard Wind 1, which has approximately $3.5 billion in committed financing and capital raised to date, was projected to have a combined generating capacity of more than 800 megawatts.

The decision, which revokes the leases granted by the Joe Biden administration (2021-2025), leaves billions of dollars in investments and the future of this type of energy on the East Coast up in the air. This region had invested heavily in offshore wind power projects and expected these developments to produce energy for more than 2.5 million homes. Since returning to power in January, Donald Trump has repeatedly expressed his opposition to wind energy,arguing that it spoils the landscape or negatively impacts bird ecosystems.

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