Danish company Ørsted and its joint venture partner Skyborn Renewables have filed a lawsuit in the DC District Court to reverse a stop-work order for the Revolution Wind project.
The project was 80% complete when the stop-work order was issued. Rhode Island and Connecticut, the two states that were supposed to benefit from the project, are also suing the federal government.
The order suspended the project after all offshore foundations were in place and 45 out of 65 wind turbines installed. Export cable installation is nearly complete, as is 90% of the onshore substation. The project was scheduled to be finished next year.
Revolution Wind, a joint venture between wind developer Ørsted and Skyborn Renewables, said it had already spent about $5bn on the project, and that it will incur costs of another $1bn if the order remains in place.
The project, which is supposed to provide enough energy to power upwards of 350,000 homes, supports over 2,000 jobs in the US.
A joint news release from the attorneys general of the two states claimed that Revolution Wind was projected to “save Connecticut and Rhode Island ratepayers hundreds of millions of dollars over 20 years”.
They said that they set out to “restore the rule of law, protect their energy and economic interests, and ensure that the federal government honours its commitments”.
“While Revolution Wind will continue to seek to work collaboratively with the administration and other stakeholders toward a prompt resolution, it believes that BOEM lacked legal authority for the stop-work order and that the stop-work order’s stated basis violated applicable law. The project is facing substantial harm from the continuation of the stop-work order, and as a result, litigation is a necessary step,” Revolution Wind said in a statement.
