‘We still have hope’ says US state trade representative

A state-level trade body boss says he “still has hope” for the US offshore wind and renewable energy industry despite project cancellations in the wake of the Trump presidency.

Kurt Foreman, the president and chief executive of a trade body representing the US state of Delaware, highlighted the independence of states to control their own destinies in a speech to delegates at the Subsea Expo in Aberdeen: “There are obviously changes at the federal level in the United States, there are changes at the state level. I represent a state, so often our colleagues will say we’re not just one country, we are 50-plus countries.”

Foreman is the president and chief executive of the Delaware Prosperity Partnership (DPP), a not-for-profit, private sector economic development agency that leads the US state’s efforts to attract, grow and retain businesses.

The state, which was the first to ratify the US constitution in 1787, is 90 minutes travel away from Washington DC.

Delaware voted in Matt Meyer, a Democrat, in the recent US elections which saw the country elect the Republican Donald Trump as president a second time.

Foreman said the state was known for its unique court system and for law enabling company incorporation. Over 68% of US-based Fortune 500 companies are domiciled there and 80% of stock market IPOs are also incorporated in Delaware.

“It’s not a tax haven,” he said. “Many people think we are a tax haven, although our tax structure is very competitive. It is really about that legal structure that gives surety to companies as they get underway and operate.”

Nor is Delaware an “energy state”, he said, but its location puts it within close proximity to several offshore wind projects.

© Erikka Askeland/DCT Media

On his first day in office, Trump signed an order that indefinitely paused new offshore wind leases in US coastal waters and halted new permits pending the completion of a review. Analysts including Rystad estimated that around 30 gigawatts of projects on the US East Coast could be at risk.

Trump also took aim at the industry in the UK. Posting on his social network, he urged the UK to “open up the North Sea” in an apparent criticism of the country’s energy transition policies and suggested the UK to “get rid of windmills”.

Foreman said:  “We are close to most of the offshore wind sites on the East Coast. I know that is a bit of an irony right now, given some of the rhetoric. Many of those projects are being put on hold. Some have been cancelled. We still have hope.

“Right as we were getting ready to sign deals, the federal government has put some halt on some of those projects. But as that developments and comes along – maybe not as fast as we would all like – there will be opportunities from our hub.”

Answering questions from the audience, he added:  “Even six months to a year ago, our team was gearing up to do a whole bunch of things around offshore wind. We were working with some companies here in the UK, for example, who were engineering related that could serve offshore wind as part of the supply chain.

And while he believed his firm’s strategy “goes to sleep for a while” he was confident the industry wouldn’t have to wait to long, not even the president’s expected four-year term.

“I would guess many of you, like the diversity of industries we have to focus on as a state, you all have to focus and maybe shift gears,” he said.

“It sounds like some of the companies are shifting back to oil and gas for a bit. It may be that things are going to continue to change.

“I wouldn’t be shocked if, after the drama of the announcements lately, as things evolve going forward, whether it’s around hydrogen, whether it’s around other things, that might shift again. So I don’t think we will have to wait four years. We will see. You all have waited before and we might be doing some of that again.”