Ørsted Files Additional Lawsuit Challenging Stop-Work Order on Sunrise Wind
Danish offshore energy developer Ørsted has filed its second lawsuit challenging the Trump administration’s December 2025 stop-work order on five under-construction wind farms along the U.S. Atlantic coast. The company says the latest suit challenges the lease suspension and is seeking a preliminary injunction against the stop-work order.
The suit follows a similar action filed by Ørsted last week as the joint owner of the Revolution Wind project. In addition, Equinor, which is developing the Empire Wind project, as well as Dominion Energy, which is developing Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind, have also filed suits seeking injunctions. At the beginning of the week, Connecticut and Rhode Island also filed suit in support of Revolution Wind. A hearing is scheduled for next week on Dominion’s case, as all the companies seek injunctions so that they can resume work.
Ørsted asserts in its latest suit that the order “violates applicable law.” They call the suit a “necessary step,” saying the Sunrise Wind project faces “substantial harm from a continuation of the lease suspension.”
The Department of the Interior asserted in issuing the stop-work orders that new confidential studies showed increased dangers from the interference caused by the large wind turbine blades and the towers. They said the Department of War [Defense] had completed new studies, but did not provide details on the information.
The latest suit, like the previous filings, challenges the assertions, noting that the project seeks to work constructively with the administration and other stakeholders. They have each noted that their projects went through years of reviews during the permitting process. Sunrise Wind highlights that its consultations with the Department of Defense [War] and various military organizations resulted in “a fully executed formal agreement between the Department of War, the Department of the Air Force, and Sunrise Wind outlining mitigation measures by the project.”
Sunrise Wind has a 25-year contract with the State of New York and is reported to be nearly 45 percent complete. It reports that 48 of the 84 monopile foundations have been installed, as well as the offshore converter station. Construction of the onshore electric infrastructure is substantially complete, while the near-shore cables have been installed. They report that the project was expected to begin generating power as soon as October 2026.
that matters most
Get the latest maritime news delivered to your inbox daily.
Ørsted has faced deep financial strains as the offshore wind industry dealt with increased costs and growing challenges. The company was forced to take large write-offs, citing the problems in the United States as one of the key challenges. Revolution Wind has been fighting the Trump administration since it received its first stop-work order in August, but won a court order that permitted work to resume, while the first case is being heard.
A coalition of states also won a court case against the Trump administration. The courts overruled Donald Trump’s Executive Order freezing the industry and starting a review. The court found it was a violation of procedural regulations, but the administration has continued its efforts to stop offshore wind as a form of renewable energy. The states argue they need to expand their generation and grid capacity and that the administration’s actions threaten the stability of the power grid and the economic growth efforts of the states.