US offshore wind projects are moving ahead despite tighter federal policy and ongoing litigation. Ørsted’s 704-megawatt Revolution Wind entered full commercial operation in November, and Vineyard Wind is also fully operational. But BloombergNEF has cut its forecast for US offshore wind capacity in 2035 from 39 gigawatts to 5.9 gigawatts, reflecting how policy uncertainty has reshaped expectations for the sector’s growth.
Revolution Wind begins full operations at 704 MW
The $6.2 billion Revolution Wind project has 65 turbines and can generate 704 megawatts at full capacity. It began operations in November after months of policy uncertainty and legal disputes, becoming the third utility-scale offshore wind farm in the US to reach full commercial operation. The earlier projects are South Fork Wind off New York and Vineyard Wind off Massachusetts.
Ørsted says Revolution Wind can supply enough electricity to meet the needs of more than 350,000 homes in New England. The project has clean-power sales agreements with three regional utilities: Rhode Island Energy, Eversource Energy and United Illuminating.
Courts allow five East Coast projects to proceed
The US offshore wind industry got off to a late start. Block Island Wind Farm, developed by Deepwater Wind, opened in 2016 as the country’s first major offshore wind farm. It cost $300 million and has a capacity of 30 megawatts. South Fork Wind, the first commercial-scale US project with more than 100 MW of capacity, began operating in 2024. Located off New York, it has 12 turbines and a capacity of 132 MW.
The Biden administration set a target of deploying 30 GW of offshore wind by 2030 and approved 11 commercial-scale projects in federal waters during its term. If completed, those projects are expected to provide 19 GW of clean power. The Inflation Reduction Act, passed in August 2022, introduced several financial incentives for offshore wind development, while state policies also helped spur investment. International wind companies including Ørsted, Iberdrola and Equinor consequently committed billions of dollars to the sector.
After Donald Trump began his second term in January 2025, the administration issued orders to pause the development or operation of some wind projects, prompting multiple lawsuits. Federal courts have issued stop-work orders affecting project operators, while other judges have allowed construction to continue. Earlier this year, a federal judge ruled that five permitted East Coast wind farms could proceed with construction. The rulings have allowed some projects under way to advance, but have not removed the permitting and policy risks facing the industry.
BloombergNEF cuts 2035 forecast to 5.9 GW
The US Department of Energy estimates that the technical offshore wind resource potential in federal waters and the Great Lakes exceeds 4,000 GW, with theoretical annual generation of about 13,500 terawatt-hours. The department has also allocated more than $300 million to offshore wind research, development and demonstration projects. That resource potential does not translate directly into deployable capacity: permitting and policy conditions continue to affect project timelines and financing.
Before the start of Trump’s second term, BloombergNEF forecast that the US would have 39 GW of offshore wind capacity by 2035. It has since lowered that estimate to 5.9 GW, citing heightened policy uncertainty and the projects included in its forecast that are already completed or under construction. The new figure remains well above the 30 MW operating in 2016. Revolution Wind’s launch shows that some projects are reaching completion, while the pace of new approvals and the sector’s longer-term expansion remain tied to policy and legal developments.