$8 billion in clean energy projects were cancelled this year. Can the US clean energy market survive tariff uncertainty?
Interchange Recharged
Wood Mackenzie
4.8 • 535 Ratings
🗓️ 20 May 2025
⏱️ 44 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
The US is risking ceding global market share of clean energy to China, permanently.
New tariffs, put in place one day then removed the next. Rising costs for everything along the supply chain. The US clean energy sector is navigating one of its most unpredictable phases yet. From solar to storage, how are developers and policymakers reacting to renewed trade tensions and their impact on the energy transition?
“This isn’t just about clean energy deployment. It’s about whether the US will have a seat at the table in the future global energy economy,” says Leslie Abrahams, Deputy Director of the Energy Security and Climate Change Program at CSIS – the Center for Strategic & International Studies. She joins host Sylvia Leyva Martinez, a principal analyst covering global energy markets at Wood Mackenzie, to find out what the outlook is for US energy innovation. Escalating tariff policy is shaking investor confidence, altering supply chains, and putting the power firmly with China.
Plus, in the second half of the show, Sylvia gets the developer perspective, from Joao Barreto, who is CEO of EDP Renewables’ distributed generation business in North America. He explains how one of the world’s largest clean energy developers is mitigating risk, adjusting their strategy, and building trust with manufacturers and offtakers amid unprecedented uncertainty.
Sylvia, Leslie and Joao discuss:
- Why US$8 billion in clean energy projects were cancelled in Q1 2025, and what that signals to the market
- How US tariffs on Chinese batteries are backfiring on domestic manufacturing
- The challenge of accelerating R&D while shutting out foreign investment
- How storage and solar developers are hedging their bets
- Whether the US risks ceding global market share to China permanently
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Taras are not new to clean energy. |
| 0:03.0 | In fact, we've seen them in the sector since at least 2012. |
| 0:06.9 | But they've never been this erratic or impactful on global markets. |
| 0:11.4 | So what can be done about it? |
| 0:13.8 | How do we get some certainty in the U.S. around renewable investment? |
| 0:17.7 | And how is China going to respond? |
| 0:24.2 | I'm Sylvia-Martinez and I'm a principal analyst researching energy markets around the |
| 0:29.1 | world. |
| 0:29.9 | Bienvenitos. |
| 0:30.9 | Welcome to the show. |
| 0:32.1 | It's great to have you here with me. |
| 0:35.2 | In the first quarter of this year, there were $8 billion of projects that were canceled in the |
| 0:41.7 | span both manufacturing and generation of clean tech. |
| 0:46.3 | And that's something like three to four times the cancellations and delays then we saw all |
| 0:52.8 | the way from the beginning of the Inflation Reduction Act through |
| 0:56.2 | the end of last year. |
| 0:57.9 | Today, we continue to look at the impact of Trump's tariffs on renewable energy. |
| 1:03.2 | They're meant to incentivize domestic production, but the reality is that they are |
| 1:07.4 | de-incentivizing domestic production, particularly for batteries. |
| 1:11.4 | The long-term innovation pipeline is at risk. |
| 1:14.7 | Projects ready for deployment are rushing to construction. |
| 1:18.1 | And the role of the U.S. as a leader in the global clean energy market is at risk. |
... |
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