Wind Energy – Revolution Wind
A federal court judge on Monday granted energy company Ørsted a preliminary injunction to resume work on its Revolution Wind turbine array off Rhode Island, lifting an Aug. 22 stop-work order by the Trump administration.
U.S. District Court Judge Royce Lamberth granted the injunction sought by Ørsted and its partner Skyborn Renewables as part of a lawsuit the companies filed after the Department of Interior moved to suspend permits for the 704-megawatt project.
Lawyers representing Orsted’s 704MW Revolution Wind have described the Trump administration’s stated concerns about the project as ‘factually inaccurate’.
Lamberth called the Trump administration’s explanations for the action ‘the height of arbitrary and capricious’. Among reasons offered by government lawyers have been undefined threats to national security and allegations the former Biden administration rushed through environmental permitting for the project.
The judge’s decision is a real setback for President Donald Trump’s effort to shut down the nascent offshore wind industry in the U.S.
The $6 billion Revolution Wind array is already around 80 percent complete, according to the developers and their supporters including state government officials in Rhode Island and Connecticut.
Lamberth’s decision has yet to take the form of a formal court opinion. In a Washington D.C. court hearing granting the preliminary injunction, Lamberth said it was obvious to him “if Revolution Wind cannot meet benchmark deadlines, the entire project could collapse,” Reuters reported.
Ørsted revealed earlier this month that the shutdown was costing the project roughly $15 million a week.
In a statement Ørsted said: “Revolution Wind will resume impacted construction work as soon as possible, with safety as the top priority.”
“Today’s decision allowing work to resume on Revolution Wind is welcome news for the hundreds of skilled workers who can now return to their jobs while the legal process continues,” reacted Liz Burdock, CEO of the industry group Oceantic Network.
