US strikes $1.2bn deal to pay German firm to halt offshore wind projects

What the report says

German utility RWE says it will give up its planned offshore wind projects in the United States after reaching a $1.2 billion payout agreement with President Donald Trump’s Interior Department, according to BBC World News. The company said the deal means there is no realistic path to move the projects forward in the near term, and it will withdraw from leases off California, Louisiana and in the New York Bight.

BBC reported that RWE plans to redirect the money into conventional energy investments, including a large liquefied natural gas export terminal project in Louisiana. The company also said it intends to invest about €17 billion in the US over the next six years to expand generation capacity. The agreement adds to a series of Trump administration moves aimed at slowing or ending offshore wind development.

Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said the arrangement supports what he described as a more practical energy system and praised RWE’s investment plans. The administration has repeatedly criticized wind power while backing fossil fuel production. BBC noted that Trump has also backed similar agreements with other companies, including TotalEnergies and Duke Energy, as part of a broader shift away from offshore wind projects.

The development matters because it signals how federal policy is reshaping major clean-energy investments in the US, while encouraging companies to channel capital into gas and oil projects instead.