Choppy waters for US offshore wind as Equinor project binned

Construction of Empire Wind 1, an 800MW offshore wind farm offshore New York, was ordered to stop on April 16 by US Interior secretary Doug Burgum, who partly blamed the Biden administration for approving it without enough environmental analysis, Reuters news agency said.

Equinor had only secured $3 billion for the site in January.

Equinor has been approached for comment by Maritime Journal, but was quoted by Reuters as saying it would ‘engage directly with the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) and the Department of Interior to understand the questions raised about the permits we have received from the authorities’.

“Preventing a permitted and financed energy project from moving forward sends a loud and clear message to all businesses – beyond those in the offshore wind industry – that their investment in the US is not safe,” said Liz Burdock.

“We urge the Department of Interior to lift this order immediately to restore a predictable and equitable environment for the buildout of critical energy resources that help secure our energy future and independence.”

Since Donald Trump was voted in, the list of offshore wind projects being stopped or paused has grown, though in most cases because the developer chose to halt them rather than the administration flexing its muscle.

In November 2024, development of the 3GW Attentive Energies wind farm by TotalEnergies, also offshore New York, was paused indefinitely, the company citing political uncertainties.

In February this year, the Shell and EDF Renewables Atlantic Shores project, offshore New Jersey, was shelved after Shell withdrew, and while not saying explicitly it was because of the change of administration, speculation suggested that was partly the case.

Atlantic Shores was the second large-scale offshore wind farm to be cancelled in New Jersey, following Ørsted’s cancellation of the 1,100MW Ocean Wind project in 2023.