US to pay almost $1bn to French energy company to kill wind project plan

Trump administration announces deal with TotalEnergies to redirect investment in wind to oil and gas instead

As a fuel crisis triggered by the war in Iran drives up global fossil fuel prices, the Trump administration has announced it will pay French energy major TotalEnergies $1bn to kill plans to construct wind farms off the US east coast.

The deal is the latest blow to the US offshore wind industry, which has faced repeated disruptions to multi-billion-dollar projects under Donald Trump.