The Trump administration has indicated plans to withdraw federal permitting for the 1.2 gigawatt (GW) SouthCoast Wind project, a joint venture between EDP Renewables and ENGIE, according to a court filing.
In a document submitted to the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, the Department of Justice said it “intends to move for a voluntary remand of the agency action at issue in this litigation,” with a formal motion expected by Sept. 18. The statement was made in connection with an ongoing legal challenge brought by the Massachusetts island municipality of Nantucket.
The government argued that its planned motion would render the case moot and asked the court to stay proceedings until the remand decision is made.
The SouthCoast Wind project had secured a Construction and Operations Plan (COP) under the Biden administration, which approved the plan for a 2.4GW development in January, shortly before President Donald Trump took office. A state offtake agreement covering 1.2GW was signed in September 2024 with Massachusetts and Rhode Island.
The legal challenge from Nantucket calls for revocation of the COP, citing concerns over potential impacts on the island, which is designated a National Historic Landmark.
“Nantucket supports renewable energy and recognizes that proper permitting and policy making for wind energy development rests in the hands of the federal government,” said Brooke Mohr, a member of the Nantucket Select Board. “But the permitting for SouthCoast Wind failed to account for the significant harm the project will cause Nantucket. We welcome this opportunity for federal agencies to reevaluate their decision and correct course.”
The Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) had approved the project’s development plan under the previous administration as part of broader efforts to accelerate offshore wind deployment.
SouthCoast Wind is one of several large-scale offshore wind projects in the U.S. Northeast aimed at expanding renewable energy supply in the region.
