Equinor to Resume Work on Empire Wind

Written by Daniel Graeber for Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Norwegian energy company Equinor (Stavanger, Norway) said Tuesday it received word that a stop-work order on its Empire Wind facility slated for offshore New York was lifted.

U.S. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum took to the social media platform X last month to announce that he ordered the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) "to immediately halt all construction activities on the Empire Wind project until further review of information that suggests the Biden administration rushed through its approval without sufficient analysis."

President Donald Trump signed an order in January that revoked leases to develop new offshore wind facilities and prohibited the renewal of existing wind energy leases. For existing leases, the order mandated that the Interior Department conduct a comprehensive review that would be ultimately submitted to the president.

On Tuesday, project leader Equinor said it was informed by the U.S. government that the stop-work order was lifted by the Interior Department.

"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," Anders Opedal, the president and chief executive officer of Equinor's U.S. arm, said Tuesday.

The Interior Department had no public comment on the order. Last week, the department announced that it rescinded regulation governing clean-energy development on public lands, saying it aligned with its policies of "prioritizing balanced, all-of-the-above energy."

Empire Wind is a joint venture between BP (London, England) and Equinor. It's slated for an 80,000-acre site located some 15 miles south of Long Island. Its 816-megawatt (MW) design capacity would come from 54 Vestas V236-15 turbines.

Subscribers to Industrial Info's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) Power Project Database can click here for a detailed project report on Empire Wind.

Equinor said it would reassess project economics during the second quarter, though construction is still slated to begin this year. Commercial operations should begin by 2027.

Former President Joe Biden set a goal of establishing 30 gigawatts (GW) of offshore wind energy by 2030 and another 15 GW in floating offshore capacity by 2035. Erik Milito, the president of the National Ocean Industries Association, said the Interior Department's new order on Empire Wind allows for the United States to continue addressing demand with new forms of energy.

"With power demand surging due to AI, data centers, and advanced manufacturing, offshore wind is an important part of an all-of-the-above solution. Companies throughout the supply chain--from Louisiana to Texas to New York--will be able to see the return on their investments," he said.

The United States is far behind its peers in developing offshore wind, with only a few turbines spinning in its territorial waters. But Trump's agenda had onshore casualties as well. His executive order on wind from January challenged the Department of the Interior's final environmental impact statement for the 1,000-megawatt (MW) Lava Ridge onshore wind project in Idaho, putting developer Magic Valley Energy LLC's plans on ice. Subscribers can learn more by viewing the project report.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), part of the U.S. Energy Department, still expects total wind power generation to post a 4% increase from year-ago levels.

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