Norway-based energy company Equinor announced that it has launched a civil lawsuit in a U.S. district court, challenging an order by the Trump administration’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) to halt work on Empire Wind, a large-scale $5 billion offshore wind project off the coast of New York, anticipated to power 500,000 homes with renewable energy.
The order – part of an announced pause by the Trump administration in December of the leases for all large-scale offshore wind projects under construction in the U.S. – marks the second time over the past year that the administration has forced work to shut down on the Empire Wind project, with the initial order in April 2025, subsequently reversed in May, made on the basis that “the Biden administration rushed through its approval without sufficient analysis.”
The administration’s new orders cite classified “national security risks” potentially resulting from the projects. The orders will freeze the development of five major projects along the U.S. east coast, representing nearly 6 GW of energy, that were set to enter commercial operation over the next 2 years.
Developers of other projects covered by the order have also launched legal action challenging the pause, including Ørsted and Skyborn Renewables, the developers of Rhode Island-based Revolution Wind, and Dominion Energy, the developer of the largest of the paused projects, Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind (CVOW), which rejected the administration’s national security justification for the order, and suggested instead that it stemmed from an “unfounded animus” by the administration against wind energy.
Similar to the other challenges, Equinor stated that it has coordinated closely with federal officials on national security reviews for the project for several years, including with the U.S. Department of War, and that the project has complied with national security-related requirements, adding that “Empire meets regularly with officials charged with oversight of security issues for the project, including weekly meetings with the U.S. Coast Guard and other marine first responders.”
As part of its legal action, Equinor stated that it plans to seek a preliminary injunction, in order to allow construction to continue while the litigation proceeds.
Located 24 – 48 kilometers Southeast of Long Island, Empire Wind 1 is anticipated to be the first offshore wind project to connect into the New York City grid, with a contracted capacity of 810 MW.
Equinor said that Empire Wind is already more than 60% complete, and that the company has invested more than $4 billion in the project to date. The company stated that it views the order as unlawful, warning that it “threatens the progress of ongoing work with significant implications for the project.”
The company added:
“Empire Wind is being developed under contract with the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) to deliver a critical new, near-term source of electricity for New York, bolstering grid reliability at a time of rapidly growing demand.”
