All five offshore wind projects halted by the Trump administration in December can resume construction after a federal judge’s ruling on Monday that cleared Denmark’s Ørsted to proceed with its Sunrise Wind project off the coast of New York.
Ørsted’s request for an injunction blocking the interior department order was the fifth brought by an offshore wind developer since the 22 December pause on five leases. The agency stopped work on the multibillion-dollar facilities due to national security concerns around radar interference.
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Ørsted has spent or committed more than $7bn to date to build Sunrise Wind, the company said. If the stop-work order is not lifted by 6 February, the project risks losing access to a specialized vessel needed to complete installation of an offshore cable, Ørsted attorneys argued at the hearing.
The argument was similar to those made at four other hearings in recent weeks.
“Every court to review this question has now found that the loss of specialized vessels and resulting delays amounts to irreparable harm. I agree,” Royce Lamberth, a US district court judge, said before granting Ørsted’s request.