French take $941m hit over wind farm Trump wants 'dead and gone'

French energy giant EDF announced a €900m ($941m) write down on the Atlantic Shores offshore wind project off New Jersey that President Donald Trump has said he hopes will end up “dead and gone”.

French state-owned EDF is a 50/50 partner in Atlantic Shores with oil giant Shell, which has already announced its own hit on the project and, according to regulators in New Jersey which was due to buy power from the wind farm, “backed away as an equity partner”.

EDF announced the write down where it published its full-year 2024 results on Friday.

"In order to take account [of] the new American orientation... the board decided, at this stage, to write down the offshore activities in Atlantic Shores."

The EDF impairment is the latest blow to the prospects for Atlantic Shores, which has found itself in the unenviable position of being the highest-profile target of Trump’s invective against offshore wind.

Trump targeted Atlantic Shores directly when he vowed to stop the industry “on day one” at an election rally in coastal resort Wildwood last summer. More recently on his Truth Social platform, Trump said he hoped the project was “dead and gone”.

The president on taking office in January issued an executive order (EO) banning offshore wind leasing while putting existing projects under review and even threatening to settle litigation rather than defend government actions.

Trump’s EOs, while not stopping all activity, have seriously undermined market confidence in even permitted arrays.

EDF and Atlantic Shores both backed Atlantic Shores in statements following Shell's earlier apparent decision to pause its involvement.

An Atlantic Shores representative likewise confirmed that it “intends to continue progressing New Jersey’s first offshore wind project and our portfolio in compliance with our obligations to local, state and federal partners under existing leases and relevant permits.”