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Equinor ( EQNR ) resumes Empire Wind construction after month-long

halt

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Interior Secretary halted project over environmental

concerns

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Equinor ( EQNR ) spent $50M weekly during construction halt

By Nichola Groom

May 19 (Reuters) - The Trump administration lifted a

month-old stop-work order on a major offshore wind facility

planned off the coast of New York, the project's developer said

on Monday.

Norwegian energy company Equinor ( EQNR ) said construction

activities were allowed to resume on Empire Wind, a $5 billion

project that is expected to one day provide power for half a

million New York homes.

"I would like to thank President Trump for finding a

solution that saves thousands of American jobs and provides for

continued investments in energy infrastructure in the U.S.,"

Equinor ( EQNR ) CEO Anders Opedal said in a statement in which he also

thanked Norway's leadership for raising the issue with the Trump

administration.

New York Governor Kathy Hochul was also instrumental in getting

the project back on track, Opedal said.

Officials from the U.S. Interior Department, which issued the

order last month, were not immediately available for comment.

Equinor ( EQNR ) purchased the Empire Wind lease during Trump's first

administration in 2017, and the 810-megawatt project was

approved under former President Joe Biden in 2023. It is 30%

complete, according to the company.

But on April 16, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum told Equinor ( EQNR )

to halt construction, saying the Biden administration had rushed

the project's approval without sufficient environmental

analysis.

He cited concerns raised in an internal report by the

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), which

assists the Interior Department's Bureau of Ocean Energy

Management in permitting offshore wind projects by assessing

impacts on marine mammals and fisheries.

As of last week, Equinor ( EQNR ) said it was spending $50 million a

week to keep the project afloat and warned it

could be canceled

within days.

Trump has vowed to expand domestic energy production as

part of his energy dominance agenda, but wind is excluded from

that effort. He issued an executive order on his first day in

office pausing new leasing and permitting of wind projects,

which he says are ugly, expensive and harmful to wildlife.

An industry group praised the administration for lifting

the stop-work order.

"The administration is clearing the way for major

investments to move forward - activating American shipyards,

creating high-quality jobs, and accelerating the buildout of

infrastructure needed to deliver reliable, domestic energy to

the East Coast," National Ocean Industries Association President

Erik Milito said in a statement.

"With power demand surging due to AI, data centers, and

advanced manufacturing, offshore wind is an important part of an

all-of-the-above solution," Milito said.