Empire Wind received a preliminary court injunction that allows construction to continue on its $5 billion wind project off Long Island.
The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia granted the injunction after Empire Offshore Wind LLC challenged the federal governments stoppage issued last month. The U.S. Department of the Interior suspended the leases of Empire Wind and four other offshore wind power projects, including Long Island’s Sunrise Wind on Dec. 22, citing a Pentagon complaint that the wind turbine blades would cause radar interference and create a national security risk.
Ørsted, the company behind Long Island’s Sunrise Wind project, announced last week it was also filing a court challenge to its lease suspension order from the Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, to be followed by a motion for a preliminary injunction.
Empire filed its civil suit on Friday, Jan. 2 challenging the Department of the Interior’s order to suspend its project and sought a preliminary injunction to allow construction of the project, which it claims is 60 percent complete, while the litigation proceeds.
“Empire Wind will now focus on safely restarting construction activities that were halted during the suspension period,” Equinor, the company behind the Empire Wind project, said in a written statement. “In addition, the project will continue to engage with the U.S. government to ensure the safe, secure and responsible execution of its operations.”
Once completed in 2027, Empire Wind, being developed under contract with the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority, is expected to supply enough power to electrify 500,000 homes. The project has created nearly 4,000 jobs within the offshore lease area and through its revitalization of the South Brooklyn Marine Terminal, according to the company.
“We just received word that a federal judge in Washington has sided with us and the company Equinor, and other companies who are providers of offshore wind,” Gov. Kathy Hochul said via email. “The developer Equinor sued because the Trump administration arbitrarily issued a stop work order on a project that had been underway, contemplated for over a decade as part of our [renewable] energy strategy. We’re going to continue doing what we have to do every single step of the way, but for now the wind turbines will be turning on.”
Matt Cohen, Long Island Association president and CEO expressed support for the Long Island wind projects: “Today’s federal court ruling lifting the stop work order on offshore wind projects is a win for New York’s economy and jobs, ensuring that Empire Wind already in development can continue building and will power Long Island with clean, reliable energy in the near future, and we urge the same outcome for Sunrise Wind.”
David Winzelberg
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