The Interior Department has retracted a stop order against Empire Wind, allowing Equinor ASA to resume construction of the project’s first phase, which is expected to power 500,000 homes in New York.
Anders Opedal, president and chief executive of the Norwegian majority state-owned energy major, said in an online statement it took a collective campaign by the company, New York officials, lawmakers in both chambers, labor groups, senior Norwegian government officials including the finance minister, and other advocates to convince the Trump administration to take back the April 16 order.
“Equinor will perform an updated assessment of the project economics in the second quarter”, Equinor said in an online statement Tuesday. “Empire aims to be able to execute planned activities in the offshore installation window in 2025 and reach its planned commercial operation date in 2027. Empire will engage with suppliers and regulatory bodies to reduce the impact of the stop work order”.
In the order, the Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management said it had needed to address feedback including from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration about the environmental analyses for Empire Wind.
“BOEM received this and other feedback regarding Empire Wind as an outgrowth of the review that the Department is engaged in related to offshore wind projects”, BOEM told Empire Offshore Wind LLC in a letter, shared on the bureau’s website.
BOEM was referring to a memorandum issued January 20 by President Donald Trump upon taking office. The executive decision indefinitely halted wind leasing in the Outer Continental Shelf to allow for a review of permitting considerations, saying environmental analyses have been inadequate.
The halt means no new leases would be awarded. For existing leases, “the Secretary of the Interior, in consultation with the Attorney General as needed, shall conduct a comprehensive review of the ecological, economic, and environmental necessity of terminating or amending any existing wind energy leases”, stated the memorandum, published on the Federal Register.
Empire Wind won its leasing area 2017. On February 22, 2024, BOEM under then-President Joe Biden said it had allowed Equinor to proceed with the construction of Empire Wind 1 and 2, which would rise in part in New York and in part in New Jersey.
“Together these projects would have a total capacity of 2,076 megawatts of clean, renewable energy that BOEM estimates could power more than 700,000 homes each year”, BOEM said in a statement then.
On March 1, 2024, the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) announced the 810-MW Empire Wind 1 as one of the conditional winners in its fourth offshore wind solicitation round.
On June 5, 2024, Equinor announced a purchase and sale agreement with NYSERDA for Empire Wind 1.
On January 2, 2025, Equinor announced a final investment decision and financial close for $3 billion in debt financing on Empire Wind 1.
“The project is currently more than 30 percent complete”, Equinor, which had threatened to sue over the stop order, said Tuesday.
Equinor Wind U.S. president Molly Morris commented, “This project delivers on the energy ambitions shared by the United States and New York by providing a vital new source of power to the region. Empire Wind brings supply chain investments in states across the nation including New York, Louisiana, Pennsylvania, Texas and South Carolina”.
The project has also employed over 1,500 people for construction, according to Equinor.
To contact the author, email jov.onsat@rigzone.com
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