Several developers are filing lawsuits against the Trump administration after it suspended leases for offshore wind projects under construction off the US east coast over “national security concerns”.
On January 2, Equinor’s Empire Offshore Wind LLC, a company developing the Empire Wind project off Long Island, filed a civil suit in the US District Court for the District of Columbia.
It is challenging the US Department of the Interior’s order directing a suspension of the Empire Wind project. As part of that case, the company plans to seek a preliminary injunction and allow construction to continue while the litigation proceeds.
Equinor believes that the order is unlawful and threatens the progress of ongoing work with significant implications for the project. The preliminary injunction filing is necessary to allow the project to continue as planned during this critical period of execution and avoid additional commercial and financing impacts that are likely to occur should the order remain effective.
However, the company and its contractors are complying with the order while continuing activities required to prevent impacts to health, safety, and the environment.
Equinor has coordinated closely with numerous federal officials on national security reviews since it executed its lease for the project in 2017, including with the Department of War, and has complied with relevant national security-related requirements identified as part of the regulatory process.
The project developer also meets regularly with officials charged with oversight of security issues for the project, including weekly meetings with the US Coast Guard and other marine first responders.
Empire Wind is more than 60% complete and represents a significant investment of over $4bn, $2.7bn of which has been drawn under the project financing. At the end of September 2025, the project had a gross book value of around $3.1bn, including the South Brooklyn Marine Terminal.
Once completed, the project is expected to provide enough power to electrify approximately 500,000 homes in New York.
Similarly, Revolution Wind, a 50/50 joint venture between Skyborn Renewables and Ørsted, challenged the lease suspension order. A motion for a preliminary injunction will follow this, as is the case with Equinor.
The company believes that the lease suspension order “violates applicable law [as] was the case with the August 2025 stop-work order”, which was cancelled by a judge at the DC District Court.
Because the Revolution Wind project “faces substantial harm from a continuation of the lease suspension order” the developer saw litigation as a necessary step to protect the project.
The project also engaged in years-long consultation with the US Department of War to address potential impacts to national security and defence capabilities from construction through to operation of the project, resulting in a fully executed formal agreement between the Department of War, the Department of the Air Force, and Revolution Wind outlining mitigation measures by the project.
Revolution Wind, now approximately 87% complete, has already installed all offshore foundations and 58 of 65 wind turbines. Export cable installation is complete, and both offshore substations have been installed. At the time of the lease suspension order, the project was expected to begin generating power as soon as January 2026.
Sunrise Wind, a separate project and wholly owned subsidiary of Ørsted that also received a lease suspension order, continues to evaluate all options to resolve the matter, including engagement with relevant agencies and stakeholders and considering legal proceedings.
Another project that received a security-based stop order is Dominion Energy’s $11.3bn Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind project.
The company already asked for a “temporary restraining order” which would have allowed work to continue. However, it was shot down by a judge who believed that it had to lodge a request for a preliminary injunction under procedural law.
This procedure is much longer than a simple restraining order, and Dominion stated that the order is costing $5m a day on vessels alone.
