A US federal court has cleared the way for the continuation of construction work on the “Sunrise Wind” offshore wind project.
The District Court for the District of Columbia has now granted a preliminary injunction in favor of Sunrise Wind. This temporarily suspends an order issued by the US Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM).
Shortly before Christmas, the Trump administration halted the construction of five large wind farms, including the Ørsted projects Revolution Wind and Sunrise Wind, for 90 days. For “Revolution Wind”, the halt was already lifted in January, also initially by means of a temporary injunction.
Construction stop due to “national security”
The US government justified the injunction for the fully approved wind farms with a potential threat to national security. Large rotor blades and the highly reflective towers of the turbines could cause radar interference. Experts consider these arguments to be a pretext. Donald Trump is an avowed enemy of wind turbines.
The decision means that work on the project affected by the injunction can resume with immediate effect, while the underlying legal proceedings against the BOEM order continue. Sunrise Wind said it would explore ways to work with the U.S. government to reach an expeditious and permanent resolution.
The offshore wind farm is now to return to the construction phase as quickly as possible. Safety is the top priority here. The aim of the project is to supply New York State with affordable and reliable renewable energy in the future.
Sunrise Wind is a wholly owned subsidiary of Ørsted, one of the world’s leading developers, builders and operators of offshore wind farms. Ørsted has more than 30 years of experience in the offshore wind sector and currently operates 10.2 GW of offshore wind capacity, with a further 8.1 GW under construction. The Group’s total installed renewable generation capacity is over 18 GW and includes offshore and onshore wind, solar energy, energy storage, bioenergy plants and energy trading.
