Ørsted Files Suit Contesting U.S. Stop-Work Order for Revolution Wind
Danish offshore wind energy developer Ørsted has filed suit in U.S. District Court to challenge the Trump administration’s stop-work order on the nearly completed Revolution Wind project. The company filed a supplemental complaint in its ongoing legal actions against the administration and reports it will file a motion for a preliminary injunction against the Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), which issued the stop-work order on December 22.
Revolution Wind, which is a joint venture of Ørsted and a subsidiary of BlackRock, asserts that the suspension order “violates applicable laws,” and says it is causing “substantial harm” to the project and company. They highlight that the project is in advanced stages of construction, now approximately 87 percent complete. The project they report has spent and committed billions of dollars, noting that it was expected to start generating power as early as January and would be completed in 2026.
BOEM, at the direction of the Secretary of the Interior, Doug Burgum, issued the stop-work order to Revolution Wind, as well as Dominion Energy’s Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind, Equinor’s Empire Wind, Avangrid’s Vineyard Wind 1, and Sunrise Wind, which is also being developed by Ørsted. Dominion Wind has also challenged the order in court, and at the beginning of the week, the court ordered the Department of the Interior to provide the confidential study, which it says is the basis for the order.
The Trump administration stopped the projects, citing “national security concerns,” saying that new data showed the potential for radar interference and clutter from the turbine blades and towers.
Revolution Wind, like Coastal Virginia before it, contends in its legal action that the project spent years in permitting and engaged in years-long consultation with the U.S. Department of Defense [War] Military Aviation and Installation Assurance Clearinghouse to address potential impacts to national security and defense capabilities. The companies have indicated that they were willing to work constructively with the administration for a durable resolution of any concerns.
This is the second time in months that Revolution Wind is being forced to seek court interventions owing to the administration’s efforts to stop the project that is located approximately 15 miles south of Rhode Island and 32 miles southeast of Connecticut, with power contracts with both states. In August last year, BOEM ordered the developer to halt ongoing activities to allow time for it to address what it said were concerns that had arisen about the permitted process. The company, however, got a reprieve a month later after a federal court in D.C. ruled in its favor, allowing construction to resume.
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In its amended complaint, Revolution Wind highlights that it is in the final stages of construction with all offshore foundations, its export cabling, two offshore substations, and 58 of 65 wind turbines already installed. The wind farm, which has a capacity to generate 704 MW, is contracted to deliver electricity to Rhode Island (400 MW) and Connecticut (304 MW).
While Ørsted has opted to sue BOEM over the order on Revolution Wind, the developer is evaluating options on Sunrise Wind, a separate project that it wholly owns. When it received approvals in June 2024, Sunrise Wind was touted as the largest offshore wind project in New York with a capacity of 924 MW, enough to power nearly 600,000 homes. Located about 30 miles east of Montauk and featuring 84 large turbines, the project was expected to be operational in 2027.?Ørsted highlighted that among the options being evaluated are engagement with relevant agencies and stakeholders and legal proceedings.