Wind Farm Developer Launches Legal Action Against White House Over Project Suspension

Orsted, recognised as the world’s largest offshore wind farm developer, has initiated legal proceedings against the United States government following the suspension of a nearly completed five billion dollar project situated offshore from Rhode Island and Connecticut.

The Trump administration, acting through the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, issued a suspension order on the Monday preceding Christmas for five renewable energy projects. Among these was the Revolution Wind project, a joint venture structured as a 50/50 partnership between Orsted and Skyborn Renewables, the latter being owned by BlackRock’s GIC division.

At the time the suspension was imposed, Revolution Wind had reached 87% completion, according to the Danish company. All offshore foundations had been installed and power generation was scheduled to commence in January. A supplemental complaint was filed in the US District Court for the District of Columbia on 1 January 2026 to challenge the lease suspension, with a motion for a preliminary injunction to follow. The company stated that litigation was necessary to safeguard the project’s rights, citing substantial harm arising from ongoing delays.

The project has been designed to supply electricity to more than 350,000 homes across Connecticut and Rhode Island. It has successfully navigated nine years of federal and state permitting processes and secured a formal mitigation agreement with the US military.

Revolution Wind represents only a portion of Orsted’s United States portfolio. The company’s separate project, Sunrise Wind, is also evaluating its legal and regulatory options after receiving a 90 day suspension order from BOEM on 22 December. The Trump administration suspended five projects on that date, including Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind, Vineyard Wind 1 off Massachusetts, and Empire Wind 1 south of Long Island. Collectively, these five projects are said to be capable of providing sufficient power for more than two million homes.

Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum stated that the action addresses emerging national security risks, including the rapid evolution of relevant adversary technologies and the vulnerabilities created by large scale offshore wind projects with proximity to east coast population centres.

Sunrise Wind, located further east off Long Island, is also in an advanced stage of construction and was scheduled to deliver power to American households in 2026. Shares of Copenhagen listed Orsted rose 3.6% on Friday morning.

The company emphasised that the projects will strengthen electric grid reliability as a critical component of the Northeast energy supply, which is essential to meeting growing energy demand. Orsted warned that halting the project may increase electricity costs and reduce reliability for the region.

Revolution Wind has secured 20 year power purchase agreements to deliver 400 megawatts of electricity to Rhode Island and 304 megawatts to Connecticut. Meanwhile, Sunrise Wind has a 25 year power purchase agreement to deliver 924 megawatts to New York State. Combined, Sunrise Wind and Revolution Wind are capable of powering approximately one million homes across the three states.

The projects have supported thousands of American jobs across construction, operations, shipbuilding, and manufacturing, according to Orsted. Revolution Wind alone has supported more than 1,000 union jobs.