US court clears Norway's Equinor to resume wind project halted by Trump

Trump's Interior Department in late December suspended all large offshore wind projects in the United States, affecting five projects.

Empire Wind had requested the court's intervention on an emergency basis, arguing in a January 6 filing that it needed to resume construction by January 16.

Without restarting by that time, "the project faces likely termination due to disruption of a tightly choreographed construction schedule dependent on vessels with constrained availability, delay costs, and the existential threat to the project financing," said the filing.

The venture's legal brief described the suspension order as "arbitrary and capricious."

Nichols granted the motion after a telephone hearing Thursday with the parties. He did not rule on Equinor's underlying challenge to the Trump administration's action.

The project, expected to be fully operational by the end of 2027, could provide enough energy to power 500,000 homes.

Equinor has already invested more than $4 billion in the venture, which is about 60 percent complete, the company said.

Empire Wind "will now focus on safely restarting construction activities that were halted during the suspension period," the company said.

"In addition, the project will continue to engage with the US government to ensure the safe, secure and responsible execution of its operations."

The underlying lawsuit "will continue to proceed," it added. 

The US Department of Interior did not respond to a request for comment.

- 'Ugly monsters' -

The Interior Department on December 22 said it had paused leases for Empire Wind and four other offshore wind projects under construction, citing "national security."

A press release pointed to "radar interference" due to "the movement of massive turbine blades and the highly reflective towers."

The US Department of Energy says wind turbines "can interfere with radar systems if they are located within the line sight of these systems," according to its website.

"In most cases, however, thoughtful wind farm site selection, planning, and other mitigations have resolved conflicts and allow wind power projects to coexist effectively with radar missions," the agency adds.

Trump has long complained that windmills ruin views and are expensive. During a trip last summer to one of his UK golf courses, the US president urged Britain to stop subsidizing the "ugly monsters."

The order on Empire Wind comes after US District Judge Royce Lamberth on Monday cleared another project, Revolution Wind off the coast of Rhode Island, to resume construction.

Orsted has a 50-percent stake in the project alongside a renewables infrastructure developer that is part of the BlackRock investment group.

In a one-page order, Lamberth wrote that Revolution Wind was likely to succeed in underlying litigation, faced "irreparable harm" without an injunction, and the venture's request was "in the public interest."

Other projects affected by the Interior Department December action are Sunrise Wind, also in New York state and the CVOW project in Virginia.  

The fifth project, Vineyard Wind, has filed a challenge to the Trump action in federal court in Massachusetts.

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