RWE has stopped offshore wind activities in United States

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By Christoph Steitz

FRANKFURT (Reuters) -RWE has stopped its U.S. offshore wind activities for now in light of regulatory uncertainty under the administration of President Donald Trump, its CEO said in a speech manuscript published ahead of the utility’s annual general meeting.

The comments by Markus Krebber highlight the challenges for European energy firms on the U.S. offshore wind market, which has become a primary target of Trump’s energy policy, with him likening wind turbines to “garbage” earlier this year.

Last week, Norwegian peer Equinor said it would halt offshore construction of its Empire Wind I project in New York State, following a stop-work order from U.S. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum.

“In the US … we have stopped our offshore activities for the time being,” Krebber said according to the manuscript for the AGM, which is scheduled for April 30.

“We remain cautious given the political developments,” he added.

About half of RWE’s installed renewable capacity is based in the United States.

RWE, Germany’s biggest power producer, holds the rights to develop U.S. offshore wind projects at three coastal sites and last month said it had pared back these activities to a minimum, stopping short of saying they were on ice.

This includes the 3 gigawatt Community Offshore Wind joint venture with Britain’s National Grid, which is 73%-owned by the German group.

Community Offshore Wind has non-current assets with a carrying amount – calculated by deducting depreciation from the original cost – of 1.31 billion euros ($1.49 billion), according to RWE’s annual report.

($1 = 0.8804 euros)

(Reporting by Christoph Steitz, Editing by Miranda Murray and Ludwig Burger)