US court weighs Trump's halt to Rhode Island offshore wind project
On Monday, a federal judge will review a request from Danish offshore wind developer Orsted for the restart of work on the almost finished Revolution Wind project that was halted by President Donald Trump’s administration last month.
Orsted, along with its joint venture partner Skyborn Renewables, has asked Judge Royce Lamberth at the U.S. District Court of Washington for a preliminary injunction to be granted in a suit they filed earlier in the month against the U.S. Interior Department's order to stop work.
The Revolution Wind project is located 15 miles from the coast of Rhode Island. Once completed, it is expected to generate enough electricity to supply 350,000 homes across Rhode Island, Connecticut and Massachusetts.
Orsted has stated that it will lose $2 million per day if the project is not completed. The company invested or committed to $5 billion in Revolution Wind. This project was approved by former U.S. president Joe Biden's administration for 2023.
Trump has worked to stop offshore wind projects because he views them as expensive, ugly and unreliable.
In court documents filed this month, federal attorneys argued against Orsted's injunction request. They said that the project had failed to meet certain conditions of its permit.
These requirements include coordination with the Navy in order to minimize risks to military operations and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to avoid impacts on scientific surveys.
Revolution Wind has claimed that the administration has not followed formal procedures in addressing non-compliance and has said that it has met the permit requirements.
The company also stated that the specific concerns of the administration were only raised once it issued the order to stop work in order to justify its litigation decision.
The order issued by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management of the Interior Department on August 22 initially referred to unspecified concerns about national security. Reporting by Nichola Gregorio; editing by David Gregorio
(source: Reuters)
