*

Company says it is evaluating options to resolve

*

Revolution Wind was scheduled for completion next year

*

Bureau cites national security, interference with

'reasonable

uses' of sea

(Adds details throughout including statement from Orsted,

industry group, background, details on project)

By Nichola Groom

Aug 22 (Reuters) - The Trump administration on Friday

ordered Denmark's Orsted to stop construction on an

offshore wind project near Rhode Island that is 80% complete,

according to a letter posted on the website of the Bureau of

Ocean Energy Management.

The move is the administration's latest effort to hinder

U.S. renewable energy development and is the second time this

year the Interior Department, which oversees BOEM, has halted

work on a major offshore wind project.

"Orsted is evaluating all options to resolve the matter

expeditiously," the company said in a statement, adding that it

was reviewing the financial implications of the order and was

considering legal action.

On his first day in office in January, President Donald

Trump suspended new offshore wind leasing pending an

environmental and economic review of projects. He has repeatedly

criticized wind energy as ugly, unreliable and expensive.

Revolution Wind is a $1.5 billion project that was

scheduled to be completed next year and expected to produce

enough electricity to power 350,000 homes in Rhode Island and

Connecticut.

The National Ocean Energy Industries Association, an

industry trade group, said halting work on a project that is

almost finished would jeopardize jobs and investment.

"These projects are not only about energy," NOIA

President Erik Milito said. "They advance priorities of the

Administration by restoring American manufacturing,

strengthening shipbuilding, modernizing ports, and building the

reliable power needed to support data centers and AI

innovation."

The stop-work order is driven by unspecified national

security concerns arising from the administration's review of

offshore wind projects in federal waters, according to the

letter, signed by BOEM acting Director Matthew Giacona.

The bureau is seeking to protect U.S. national security and

prevent "interference with reasonable uses of the exclusive

economic zone, the high seas, and the territorial seas," Giacona

said.

Orsted is among the biggest global offshore wind companies,

but its U.S. business has suffered setbacks.

The company in 2023 was forced to cancel two big New

Jersey projects due to soaring costs. And earlier this month,

Orsted asked shareholders for $9.4 billion to help fund its

Sunrise Wind project off the New York coast after potential

partners pulled out due to Trump's hostility to wind power.