The U.S. offshore wind industry has developed much more slowly than in Europe because it took years for the states and federal government to provide subsidies and draw up rules and regulations, slowing leasing and permitting. However, as government policies started to line up in the industry’s favor in recent years, offshore wind developers unveiled a host of new project proposals, mostly off the U.S. East Coast. The COVID-19 pandemic gummed up supply chains and increased the cost of equipment and labor, making new projects far more expensive than initially projected. Many contracts for offshore wind projects have no mechanism for adjustment in the case of higher interest rates or costs. Some developers have paid to get out of their contracts rather than build them and face years of losses or low returns. Biden’s administration has sought to supercharge clean energy development with passage of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), a sweeping law that provides billions of dollars of incentives to projects that fight climate change. Since the law passed last year, companies have announced billions of dollars in new manufacturing for solar and electric vehicle (EV) batteries across the U.S. But the offshore wind industry is not fully satisfied.
https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/why-us-offshore-wind-industry-is-doldrums-2023-10-31/