Page 17: of Marine News Magazine (October 2023)

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Column

Washington Watch the development of the U.S. offshore wind industry appears to be stall- ing. As was widely reported, in early

September the CEO of Orsted – the world’s largest offshore wind devel- oper – stated that walking away from the company’s U.S. projects was a “real option” due to the economic challenges of such projects. Develop- ers such as Orsted are actively lob- bying the Biden Administration to loosen Treasury’s rules governing the

IRA’s domestic content requirement bonus tax credit, outlined above.

State governments are feeling the squeeze as well, many of which have laid out millions of dollars in state funding to encourage offshore wind projects to get off the ground. A co- alition of governors from New Jersey,

New York, Connecticut, Maryland,

Massachusetts and Rhode Island recently urged President Biden to take signi? cant steps on tax credits, revenue sharing, and environmental permits to mitigate the risk that these ? edgling projects will fail.

Whether the Biden Administra- tion or Congress take further ac- tion to support the offshore wind industry remains to be seen. At the time of writing another government shutdown looms large, with increas- ing disagreement on spending levels across government programs. Accord- ingly, it seems unlikely that any fur- ther spending on the oft-controver- sial offshore wind industry will occur, particularly as we enter a Presiden- tial election year. Thousands of U.S. mariner and shipbuilding jobs hang in the balance, waiting to see which way the political winds blow.

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