Clean energy manufacturers canceled, closed or downsized nearly $8 billion in projects in the first quarter of 2025, as the Trump administration's rollback of support for the sector sets in.
Clean energy advocacy nonprofit E2 announced the cancellations last week as part of its monthly tracking of clean energy project announcements in the U.S. It was the first time E2 has opted to include cancellations and downsizes as part of its tracking, as the number of abandoned projects grows across the U.S.
Cancellations included lithium battery maker Kore Power's cancellation of its planned $1.2 billion factory in Arizona, as well as Freyr Battery's cancellation of its $2.6 billion Georgia battery factory.
The cancellations, which spanned 16 projects in sectors such as wind, solar and electric vehicle manufacturing, are another sign of companies' hesitation to push ahead with clean energy projects in the era of the Trump administration.
In the years following the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act in 2022, manufacturers poured hundreds of billions of dollars into clean energy projects in a bid to cash in on the law's lucrative tax credits for domestic manufacturing, as well as its direct funding and loan financing.
Now, however, times have changed. On his first day in office, President Donald Trump froze IRA funding pending a federal review. Last week, a federal judge ordered the funding temporarily reinstated while a lawsuit from six climate groups is under consideration.
Trump has been critical of the climate law and what he calls former President Joe Biden's "electric vehicle mandate,” referring to Biden’s 2021 executive order that called for half of new vehicles sold in the U.S. to be electric by 2030. The president has also criticized EV tax credits provided under the IRA.
Further compounding this issue are the Trump administration's tariffs, which could drive up supply costs for everything from solar panels to EV batteries. For example, the U.S. still largely relies on imports for solar cell components – in 2022, roughly 88% of solar shipments were imports, primarily from Asia, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
While cancellations and scaled down plans made up the bulk of clean energy announcements in the first quarter of the year, some companies are still opting to invest in the U.S. March brought $1.6 billion in project investments across six states, including an $850,000 solar cell factory from T1 Energy, the reiteration of the former battery maker Freyr Battery. After canceling its Georgia battery factory, the company rebranded and relaunched as T1 Energy, with a new focus on solar energy.
"Clean energy companies still want to invest in America, but uncertainty over Trump administration policies and the future of critical clean energy tax credits are taking a clear toll," E2 Communications Director Michael Timberlake said in a statement. "If this self-inflicted and unnecessary market uncertainty continues, we’ll almost certainly see more projects paused, more construction halted, and more job opportunities disappear.
