US Freezes Five Big Offshore Wind Projects, Shares Dive

Suspension affects Orsted, Avangrid, Dominion Energy, Equinor projects
Pentagon raises concerns over radar interference from turbine blades, towers
Trump campaigned for White House on promise to end offshore wind industry

Dec 22 (Reuters) – The Trump administration suspended leases on Monday for five large offshore wind projects that are under construction off the U.S. East Coast over what it called national security concerns, sending shares of offshore wind companies plunging.

The suspension was the latest blow for offshore wind developers that have faced repeated disruptions to their multi-billion-dollar projects under U.S. President Donald Trump, who has said he finds wind turbines ugly, costly and inefficient. State officials, offshore wind companies, and industry trade groups slammed the move as unjustified.

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The U.S. Department of the Interior said the move was the result of complaints by the Pentagon that the movement of huge turbine blades for offshore wind projects, as well as the highly reflective towers that hold them up, cause radar interference that can make it hard to identify and locate threats.

The pause will give relevant 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 department said in a press release.

“The prime duty of the United States government is to protect the American people,” Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum said in the release.

STATES CONSIDER THEIR OPTIONS

The pause will affect Orsted’s Revolution Wind and Sunrise Wind projects, Avangrid and Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners’ Vineyard Wind 1 project, Dominion Energy’s (D.N), opens new tab Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind, and Equinor’s (EQNR.OL), opens new tab Empire Wind 1 project, according to the release.

New York Governor Kathy Hochul and Connecticut Attorney General William Tong said in separate statements on Monday that states affected by the freeze were reviewing their options.

“The Trump administration will look for any excuse to continue its assault on clean energy — and the thousands of good-paying jobs these projects bring — but there is no credible justification for this stoppage,” Hochul said.

The National Ocean Industries Association, a trade group representing offshore wind developers, also urged the administration to end the pause quickly, pointing out that the Pentagon had been involved in approving the projects under past administrations.

“The regulatory process involves a rigorous framework for assessing the national security implications of proposed projects, and every project under construction has already undergone review by the Department of Defense with no objections,” NOIA President Erik Milito said.

Shares in Danish energy firm Orsted (ORSTED.CO), opens new tab, which owns two of the affected projects, traded down more than 12% by late morning, with other companies such as Dominion and Equinor also trading lower.

Dominion said the suspension will threaten grid reliability for its Virginia customers, including military bases and data centers powering artificial intelligence.

“These electrons will power the datacenters that will win the AI race, support our war fighters, and build the nuclear warships needed to maintain our maritime supremacy,” the company said in a press release.

Orsted, Equinor, and Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners were not immediately available for comment.

TRUMP’S ANTI-WIND INDUSTRY STANCE

In August, the administration had ordered Orsted to halt already advanced construction on the Revolution Wind project off Rhode Island, though a federal judge later lifted the ban.

Earlier in the year, the administration lifted a stop-work order on Equinor’s Empire Wind in a compromise with New York state that paved the way for a natural gas pipeline Trump supports.

Trump campaigned for the White House on a promise to end the offshore wind industry – saying “windmills” are too expensive and hurt whales and birds – while promoting oil and gas.

The uncertainty has taken a financial toll on developers. Orsted raised $9.4 billion earlier this year to help fund U.S. projects after potential partners were deterred by Trump’s hostility to wind power.

Interior Secretary Burgum has previously said the administration is concerned that offshore wind installations can make the United States more vulnerable to attacks by swarms of drones.

Reporting by Ryan Patrick Jones in Toronto and Stine Jacobsen in Copenhagen Writing by Richard Valdmanis Editing by Doina Chiacu, Toby Chopra, Frances Kerry, Rod Nickel