Orsted contests US stoppage of its $5 Billion offshore wind project

Orsted, a Danish company, said it would seek an injunction to stop its $5 billion offshore wind project after the U.S. government suspended the lease of its Revolution Wind joint-venture.

The Trump Administration suspended on Monday leases?for?five large offshore projects that are currently under construction off of the U.S. East Coast due to what it called "national security concerns", sending shares in offshore wind companies plummeting.

The suspension is the latest blow to offshore wind developers who have been repeatedly disrupted in their multibillion dollar projects under?U.S. Donald Trump has stated that he believes wind turbines are ugly, expensive and inefficient.

Orsted stated in a?statement on Friday that Revolution Wind is about 87% completed and that the project would begin producing power as early as January 2026.

In a statement, Orsted stated that "Revolution Wind spent and committed billions in reliance on, and met the requests of, a comprehensive review process."

Revolution Wind LLC is a joint venture of Orsted, Global Infrastructure Partners, and Skyborn Renewables. It filed its complaint at the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.

Orsted and Skyborn Renewables announced in September that they had already committed or spent $5 billion on Revolution Wind.

Orsted's shares plunged by?13% Monday after the U.S. Government announcement.

Orsted raised $9.4 billion in shares at a steep discount last year to help shore up its finances. It was hampered by higher interest rates, inflation, delays in the supply chain, and regulatory issues.

State officials:?Democratic legislators and industry trade associations have slammed government's action as unjustified.

The U.S. Department of the Interior said that the Pentagon complained that the large turbine blades and highly reflective towers used for offshore wind power projects can cause radar interference, making it difficult to detect and locate threats.

Sunrise Wind LLC is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Orsted, which also received an order to suspend a lease. The company continues to assess all possible options for resolving the issue. (Reporting and editing by Tom Hogue; Terje Solsvik)

(source: Reuters)