French utility company EDF has exited the Atlantic Shores project off New Jersey and written down $940 million in the value of its stake in the project, according to a report from Agence France-Presse.
The decision comes in the wake of its former project partner Shell pulling out of its $1-billion investment in January. Soon after Shell’s decision, the New Jersey state Board of Public Utilities decided not to proceed with a new wind power solicitation that would have allowed Atlantic Shores to submit an updated bid.
Added to this was the uncertainty around federal offshore wind policy, most notably President Trump’s decision to temporarily halt offshore wind lease sales in federal waters and pause the issuance of approvals, permits and loans for both onshore and offshore wind projects.
“There have been significant evolutions in US offshore policy and that led us to reexamine our activities,” EDF chief executive Luc Remont said in a recent conference call with journalists, according to AFP. That reexamination, Remont said, led EDF to “take a position that preserves the company and its future development. In order to take into account the new American orientation, the board decided, at this stage, to write down the offshore activities in Atlantic Shores,” Remont was quoted to say.
In a later statement, EDF left open future possibilities for the Atlantic Shores lease areas.
“EDF Renewables believes [that] Atlantic Shores’ projects can contribute to an ‘all-of-the-above’ American energy dominance strategy. The projects are poised to provide urgently needed energy and jobs to the New Jersey economy and beyond within the American offshore energy industry,” the statement read.
