Developer says US stoppage of Rhode Island offshore wind is unjustified

According to court documents filed Thursday, the owners of Revolution Wind claimed that the reasons given by the Trump administration for stopping the work on their Rhode Island offshore windfarm were "factually inaccurate" and revealed only after the government had ordered the project to be halted.

The filing at the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia was part of a suit filed earlier this month against a stop-work notice issued by the Department of the Interior to Revolution Wind in August.

U.S. president Donald Trump has repeatedly criticised wind energy for being ugly, unreliable and expensive. His administration is relying on federal agencies to reign in wind development.

Revolution Wind has filed a preliminary injunction for the restart of work on this project. Next week, a hearing will be held.

In its August stop-work notice, the U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management stated that the project would be halted for unspecified reasons of national security.

In a response to Revolution Wind’s complaint, the administration provided more details about its reasoning for the first public time, stating that the project failed to meet certain conditions of its permit.

These conditions include the requirement to coordinate with Navy ships at sea during construction, and to mitigate military risks from fiber-sensing and acoustic monitor equipment used by this project.

The Trump administration has also claimed that the project failed to provide details on how it would mitigate the impact of the project on government scientists working at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Revolution Wind has said that it coordinated with the Navy, NOAA and other agencies. It also added that the filing of the administration "belatedly asserts for the first-time alleged failures which were not mentioned or identified by Revolution Wind in the Stop Work Order, but were only brought up in this lawsuit, and are all factually inaccurate."

Orsted reports that Revolution Wind has completed 80% of its work, with 45 out 65 wind turbines already installed.

The project, which was due to be completed in 2019, was expected to generate enough electricity to supply 350,000 homes across Rhode Island and Connecticut. Reporting by Nichola Grroom, Chris Reese, and Sonali Paul

(source: Reuters)