When former President Joe Biden first took office, the winds were clearly blowing in the right direction for the offshore turbine industry — and the Italian cable manufacturer Prysmian Group saw an opening.
The company, expecting the new administration to finally build long hoped-for wind turbines off the coast of New England, announced plans in December 2021 for a factory in Somerset, Massachusetts. The plant would make electrical cables to connect the windmills to the town’s grid infrastructure, which had connected to New England’s largest coal-fired power station until it shut down in 2010.
Last Friday, just days before President Donald Trump returned to office and halted all new offshore wind projects with the stroke of a pen, Prysmian pulled the plug on the $300 million project, which would have created hundreds of jobs.
“The decision was not tied to any political developments,” the company said in an emailed statement.
Vowing to pursue “a policy where no windmills…
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