Biden Climate Goal Remains in Reach Even After Wind Setback
Orsted’s cancellation of two projects off New Jersey is a blow to the industry, but less significant for achieving a zero-carbon power grid by 2035.
Workers look out at an offshore wind farm.
Photographer: Sean Gallup/Getty ImagesThe cancellation this week of two major wind projects off the coast of New Jersey effectively sinks President Joe Biden’s end-of-the-decade goal for building out offshore wind energy, a component of the US plan to eventually reach net zero. But the setback is unlikely to rule out the Biden administration’s target of achieving a zero-carbon electricity grid by 2035, experts say.
The decision by Danish energy giant Orsted A/S comes as a reality check for the clean energy ramp-up in the US and a stark contrast to the electric-vehicle factories and solar jobs created in the wake of last year’s Inflation Reduction Act, which put billions of dollars behind renewable projects. While that expansion includes ambitious wind targets, at the moment only 10% of US electricity comes from wind — almost all from onshore turbines. Offshore capacity is a minuscule fraction of more than 144 gigawatts in total US wind power.