Judge Lets Orsted Resume Rhode Island Offshore Wind Project Halted by Trump

A federal judge on Monday cleared Danish offshore wind developer Orsted to resume work on its nearly finished Revolution Wind project, which U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration halted along with four other projects last month.

The ruling by U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth is a legal setback for Trump, who has spent the last year seeking to block expansion of offshore wind in federal waters. It was the second time in four months the $5 billion Revolution Wind project has sought, and won, a temporary court order to block a government stop-work order.

Orsted’s Revolution Wind lawsuit is one of several filed by offshore wind companies and states seeking to reverse the Interior Department’s December 22 suspension of five offshore wind leases over what it said were national security concerns around radar interference.

States Say Trump Order Halting Wind Projects Defies Explanation

Monday’s hearing was the first of three that will be held this week. The others involve Equinor’s EQNR.OL Empire Wind, off the coast of New York, and Dominion’s Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind facility.

There was no immediate comment from the Interior Department.

Orsted said it would resume work on Revolution Wind as soon as possible while its lawsuit progresses.

“Revolution Wind will determine how best it may be possible to work with the US Administration to achieve an expeditious and durable resolution,” the energy company said in a statement.

Government attorneys had argued that the pause was justified by new, classified information regarding offshore wind’s impacts on national security revealed to Interior officials by the Defense Department in November.

Lamberth rejected the administration’s argument that national security concerns justified halting the project, which he said would be irreparably harmed without an injunction.

“You want to stop everything in place, costing them one-and-a-half million a day, while you decide what you want to do?” Lamberth, who was appointed by former President Ronald Reagan, asked Justice Department attorney Peter Torstensen during the hearing.

Lamberth also said he was troubled by Interior Secretary Doug Burgum’s recent criticism of offshore wind for reasons unrelated to national security. In television interviews on the day Interior ordered the pause, Burgum said offshore wind was expensive, unreliable, reliant on foreign-made equipment and harmful to ocean life.

Revolution Wind attorney Janice Schneider argued the government’s pause had violated federal laws governing administrative procedure and due process, adding that the developer had not been able to review the classified assessment on offshore wind.

“This Court should be very skeptical of the government’s true motives here,” Schneider said.

Offshore wind developers including Orsted have faced repeated disruptions to multi-billion dollar projects under U.S. President Donald Trump, who has said he finds wind turbines ugly, expensive and inefficient.

The project is about 87% complete and is expected to begin generating power this year, Orsted has said.

Revolution Wind LLC is a 50-50 joint venture between Orsted and Global Infrastructure Partners’ Skyborn Renewables. Orsted has also sued on behalf of its Sunrise Wind project off the coast of New York.

(Reporting by Nichola Groom; Editing by Edmund Klamann, David Gregorio and Lincoln Feast.)