Trump Files To Cancel Approval Of Maryland Offshore Wind Farm

The Trump administration asked a federal court to cancel the approval of a $6 billion wind project planned off the coast of Maryland as part of a wider effort to halt the development of the offshore clean- energy resource.

The US Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management is seeking to void a permit granted to the Maryland Offshore Wind Project, according to a court filing dated Friday. The administration had signaled its intent to halt the development of the wind farm in a filing last month.

The BOEM said it had underestimated the impact to search-and-rescue helicopters and commercial fisheries in its prior approval of the facility under the Biden administration, according to the Friday filing.

The BOEM said it had identified an error in the weighing of certain statutory factors that led to the prior approval of the facility under the Biden administration, according to the Friday filing.

The Maryland project is being developed by US Wind with a plan for as many as 114 turbines about 10 nautical miles off the coast of Ocean City, Maryland, and was set to begin construction next year. US Wind is owned by funds managed by Apollo Global Management and a subsidiary of Toto Holding SpA.

President Donald Trump has aggressively targeted wind power in his crusade against clean energy during his second term. The Trump administration recently halted work on a nearly completed offshore wind farm off the coast of Rhode Island by Denmark’s Orsted A/S. The administration has also said it plans to block the development of two other similar facilities off the coast of Massachusetts.