Overview
- Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management on Dec. 22 suspended construction for at least 90 days on five East Coast projects, citing new Department of Defense assessments.
- Ørsted said it will seek a preliminary injunction for New York’s Sunrise Wind after filing for Revolution Wind; Equinor and Dominion have already sued over Empire Wind and Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind.
- A Jan. 12 hearing is set in Washington, D.C., on Revolution Wind’s injunction request, and the attorneys general of Rhode Island and Connecticut moved to consolidate their lawsuit with the developers’ case.
- Government lawyers told the court they can present relevant classified material in a closed session, as Interior defends the pause as necessary for national security and energy reliability.
- Developers report advanced construction and mounting costs: Revolution Wind is about 87% complete with ~$1.44 million in daily losses, Dominion cites ~$5 million per day at CVOW, Empire Wind 1 is roughly 60% complete, and Massachusetts pushed offshore wind contract signings to June 30 due to federal uncertainty.