Previous government reports, including one 2024 report from the Department of Energy and a 2025 report from the Government Accountability Office (an independent government watchdog), have pointed out this issue in the past.
“To date, no mitigation technology has been able to fully restore the technical performance of impacted radars,” as the DOE report puts it. However, there are techniques that can help, including software that acts to remove the signatures of wind turbines. (Think of this as similar to how noise-canceling headphones work, but more complicated, as one expert told TechCrunch.)
But the most widespread and helpful tactic, according to the DOE report, is collaboration between developers and the government. By working together to site and design wind farms strategically, the groups can ensure that the projects don’t interfere with government or military operations. The 2025 GAO report found that government officials, researchers, and offshore wind companies were collaborating effectively, and any concerns could be raised and addressed in the permitting process.
This and other challenges threaten an industry that could be a major boon for the grid. On the East Coast where these projects are located, and in New England specifically, winter can bring tight supplies of fossil fuels and spiking prices because of high demand. It just so happens that offshore winds blow strongest in the winter, so new projects, including the five wrapped up in this fight, could be a major help during the grid’s greatest time of need.
One 2025 study found that if 3.5 gigawatts’ worth of offshore wind had been operational during the 2024-2025 winter, it would have lowered energy prices by 11%. (That’s the combined capacity of Revolution Wind and Vineyard Wind, two of the paused projects, plus two future projects in the pipeline.) Ratepayers would have saved $400 million.
Before Donald Trump was elected, the energy consultancy BloombergNEF projected that the US would build 39 gigawatts of offshore wind by 2035. Today, that expectation has dropped to just 6 gigawatts. These legal battles could push it lower still.
What’s hardest to wrap my head around is that some of the projects being challenged are nearly finished. The developers of Revolution Wind have installed all the foundations and 58 of 65 turbines, and they say the project is over 87% complete. Empire Wind is over 60% done and is slated to deliver electricity to the grid next year.
To hit the pause button so close to the finish line is chilling, not just for current projects but for future offshore wind efforts in the US. Even if these legal battles clear up and more developers can technically enter the queue, why would they want to? Billions of dollars are at stake, and if there’s one word to describe the current state of the offshore wind industry in the US, it’s “unpredictable.”
This article is from The Spark, MIT Technology Review’s weekly climate newsletter. To receive it in your inbox every Wednesday, sign up here.
Source link
#legal #challenges #future #offshore #wind
