World's Biggest Wind Power Projects Scuttled

Offshore wind projects are facing an economic crisis that erased billions of US dollars in planned spending this week — just as the world needs clean energy more than ever, William Mathis reported for Bloomberg.

Photo Insert: Danish developer Orsted A/S lost a bid to provide offshore wind power to Rhode Island, which said rising costs made the proposal too expensive.

A unit of Spain’s Iberdrola SA agreed to cancel a contract to sell power from a planned wind farm off the coast of Massachusetts.

Danish developer Orsted A/S lost a bid to provide offshore wind power to Rhode Island, which said rising costs made the proposal too expensive. Swedish state-owned utility Vattenfall AB scuttled plans for a wind farm off the coast of Britain, citing inflation.

Soaring costs are derailing offshore wind projects even as demand for renewable energy soars.

Extreme heat driven by climate change is straining electric grids all over the world, underscoring the need for more power generation — and adding urgency to calls for a faster transition away from fossil fuels.

In Europe, the move to reduce reliance on Russian oil and gas has also given clean-energy projects momentum.

“Energy coming from these projects is desperately needed,” Helene Bistrom, the head of Vattenfall’s wind business. “With new market conditions, it doesn’t make sense to continue.”

Together, the three affected projects would have provided 3.5 gigawatts of power — more than 11% of the total offshore wind fleet currently deployed in the waters of the US and Europe.

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