Judge Lifts Trump Admin’s Stop-Work Order on Ørsted Offshore Wind Project

The decision means all five offshore wind projects halted under a Dec. 22 stop-work order are now cleared to continue construction.

A heavy-lift cargo drone operates at Orsted’s Borssele 1 and 2 offshore wind farm in Zeeland, Netherlands, on Aug. 6, 2024. Nicolas Maeterlinck/BELGA via AFP

A federal judge has lifted the Trump administration’s stop-work order on Ørsted’s Sunrise Wind offshore project, allowing construction to resume after it was halted over national security concerns tied to military radar interference.

U.S. District Judge Royce C. Lamberth granted Ørsted’s request for a preliminary injunction during a Feb. 2 hearing in Washington, clearing the way for the Danish energy company to restart work on the Sunrise Wind project off the coast of New York while its legal challenge to the government’s order continues.

The court did not issue a written opinion. Instead, Lamberth granted the injunction in a minute order, citing reasons stated on the record, including findings that prolonged construction delays and the potential loss of access to specialized vessels would cause irreparable harm to the project.

Ørsted’s injunction request was the fifth filed by an offshore wind developer since the Interior Department halted work on five leases on Dec. 22, 2025, citing national security concerns related to radar interference.

The suspensions followed an August 2025 review led by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) that new offshore wind approvals over concerns about national security, environmental impacts, and reliance on what the administration called foreign-controlled energy sources.

Construction to Resume

Ørsted said the judge’s decision allows Sunrise Wind to restart construction immediately while the underlying lawsuit proceeds.

“The court’s action will allow the Sunrise Wind Project ... to restart impacted activities immediately while the underlying lawsuit challenging the 22 December 2025 BOEM Director’s Order progresses,” the company said in a Feb. 2 statement.

“Sunrise Wind will determine how it may be possible to work with the U.S. Administration to achieve an expeditious and durable resolution.”

The company said construction would resume as soon as possible, with safety as the top priority, adding that the project is intended to deliver affordable, reliable power to New York.

Sunrise Wind, located roughly 30 miles east of Long Island, is designed to produce about 924 megawatts of electricity—enough to power nearly 600,000 homes—upon full operation.

The Epoch Times contacted the Interior Department for comment but did not receive a response by publication time.

Interior Department Cited National Security Risks

The Sunrise Wind project was among five offshore wind developments placed under a 90-day construction halt by the Trump administration on Dec. 22, 2025, following warnings from the Pentagon that large-scale offshore wind turbines could interfere with military radar systems.

In announcing the pause, the Interior Department said the rotating turbine blades and highly reflective towers used in offshore wind farms can create radar “clutter,” potentially obscuring legitimate targets or generating false signals.

“[The pause will allow federal agencies] time to work with leaseholders and state partners to assess the possibility of mitigating the national security risks posed by these projects,” the Interior Department said at the time.

Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said the action was motivated by the need to protect Americans, citing emerging national security risks from offshore wind projects near East Coast population centers.

Burgum also criticized offshore wind projects as expensive, unreliable, and heavily subsidized, arguing in public statements that conventional energy sources, such as natural gas, deliver greater energy output at lower cost.

Legal Challenges Gain Traction

Ørsted challenged the Sunrise Wind stop-work order in federal court, arguing that the Interior Department’s action was arbitrary and capricious, violated federal offshore leasing law, and deprived the company of property rights without due process.

The company said it has spent or committed more than $7 billion on Sunrise Wind, which was nearly 45 percent complete when construction was halted.

Ørsted said that construction delays threatened access to scarce, specialized installation vessels, potentially triggering cascading schedule disruptions and jeopardizing the project’s financial viability.

The latest ruling follows a series of court decisions that have favored offshore wind developers.

On Jan. 27, a federal judge in Massachusetts granted Vineyard Wind a stay of the Trump administration’s stop-work order, allowing construction to resume at the Vineyard Wind 1 project after finding that the company faced significant economic harm.

Earlier, another federal judge in Washington granted Ørsted a preliminary injunction allowing construction to resume on the Revolution Wind project, which was about 87 percent complete when it was halted in December.

Together, the rulings have effectively lifted construction freezes on all five offshore wind projects covered by the Dec. 22 order, including Sunrise Wind, Revolution Wind, Vineyard Wind 1, Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind–Commercial, and Empire Wind 1.

Reuters contributed to this report.