Equinor subsidiary Empire Offshore Wind has initiated legal proceedings contesting a US Department of the Interior (DoI) directive that ordered a suspension of activity on the Empire Wind project.
A civil suit has been filed by the project company in the US District Court for the District of Columbia.
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The first phase of the Empire Wind project, located south of Long Island in New York State, involves the installation of 54 turbines with a generation capacity of 810MW. The second phase may add up to 84 turbines to provide an additional 1.26GW of power.
As part of this lawsuit, Empire Offshore Wind intends to request a preliminary injunction that would permit construction to continue while the case is under judicial review.
The DoI’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management issued a stop-work notice on 22 December 2025, citing national security concerns.
Empire Offshore Wind has stated that it is complying with the order but plans to seek relief from the court to minimise project disruptions and related commercial effects if the suspension remains in place.
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By GlobalDataSince finalising its lease in 2017, Empire Offshore Wind has participated in regular national security reviews involving various federal agencies including the Department of War and the US Coast Guard.
Construction activities at Empire Wind include trenching, cable-laying and cable-pulling on the US outer continental shelf, involving various vessels, employees and subcontractors, both domestically and internationally.
In total, nearly 4,000 individuals have worked on the project during its construction phase, which is more than 60% complete, according to company figures as of late September 2025.
Empire Wind is under contract with the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority to supply electricity to New York’s grid, with projections indicating capacity for nearly 500,000 homes once it is operational.
