TotalEnergies has signed settlement agreements with the US Department of the Interior (DOI) to relinquish its Carolina Long Bay (Lease OCS-A 0545) and its New York Bight leases (Lease OCS-A 0538), both awarded in 2022, along with its partners.

As a result, TotalEnergies will no longer develop offshore wind projects in the US.

Under the terms of the settlement, TotalEnergies will recover the lease fees paid and will invest an equal amount in the development of US gas and power production and exports.

TotalEnergies’ studies on these leases have shown that offshore wind developments in the US, unlike those in Europe, are costly and might have a negative impact on power affordability for US consumers.

Since other technologies are available to meet the growing demand for electricity in the US in a more affordable way, TotalEnergies considers there is no need to allocate capital to this technology in the US.

TotalEnergies has also signed recently a Letter of Intent (LOI) with Glenfarne, lead developer of the Alaska LNG project, for the long-term offtake of 2 million tonnes per year (Mtpa) of liquefied natural gas (LNG) over 20 years, subject to the project’s final investment decision.