Unlock the White House Watch newsletter for free
Your guide to what Trump’s second term means for Washington, business and the world
Equinor’s $5bn Empire Wind project off the coast of New York will resume construction after the US government reversed its stop-work order, one month after telling the company to halt construction on the development that has been in the Trump administration’s crosshairs.
On Monday evening, the Norwegian energy company said the Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management had allowed the project to continue, following dialogue with regulators and federal, state and city officials.
“We appreciate the fact that construction can now resume on Empire Wind, a project which underscores our commitment to deliver energy while supporting local economies and creating jobs,” said Anders Opedal, president and chief executive of state-controlled Equinor.
“I would like to thank President [Donald] Trump for finding a solution that saves thousands of American jobs and provides for continued investments in energy infrastructure in the US,” he said.
In a statement, New York Governor Kathy Hochul also thanked Trump for his co-operation in allowing the project to continue.
Interior secretary Doug Burgum had ordered the project to immediately stop its activities on April 16, accusing the Biden administration of rushing through the approval process.
The wind industry has been a target for the Trump administration from his first day in office. In January, the president signed an executive order that paused permitting and leasing for onshore and offshore wind projects and ordered reviews of those that had been given the green light. The moves have prompted leading developers including Shell and TotalEnergies to reduce and slow down their US ventures. The industry is also facing the early phaseout of former president Joe Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act tax credits.
Earlier this month, 17 states and the District of Columbia launched legal action against the Trump administration challenging his executive order targeting the wind industry.
ClearView Energy Partners, a Washington-based consultancy, said the lifting of the Empire project injunction was a positive development for the offshore wind industry as it demonstrated that projects with a significant amount of investment in place could be allowed to continue. It might also address sovereign risk issues for investors, which had been raised by the Empire Wind injunction, it said.
“Permit stability is an important part of attracting investment and seeing permits put in flux for established projects could be troubling for investors,” said Kevin Book, managing director of ClearView.
Equinor said it would perform an updated assessment of the Empire project’s economics in the second quarter, and engage with suppliers and regulators to mitigate the impact of the stop work order.
The company had suggested in early May that it might be forced to terminate the project after failing to meet with Burgum and said that the delayed construction was costing it $50mn a week.
Burgum claimed his original opposition to the project was based on a report outlining the project’s illegitimacy, the findings of which were not released to the public or Equinor.
Empire Wind is scheduled to reach commercial operation in 2027 and power 500,000 homes in New York, according to the company.
Additional reporting by Jamie Smyth
Climate Capital
Where climate change meets business, markets and politics. Explore the FT’s coverage here.
Are you curious about the FT’s environmental sustainability commitments? Find out more about our science-based targets here
