Trump turns sights on another Equinor offshore wind project
Department of Interior plans to review approval of second phase of project that earned reprieve this year
Donald Trump’s government said it plans to review approvals for Empire Wind 2, the remainder of the Equinor-owned US offshore wind project whose first phase was dramatically targeted earlier this year.
The Department of the Interior’s (DOI) Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) “intends to undertake a reconsideration of its COP [Construction and Operations Plan] approval for Empire Wind 2”, according to a government legal filing lodged this week.
Empire Wind 2 forms the 1.3GW second phase of the offshore wind lease area Equinor has rights to develop off New York.
The fully permitted and under construction 800MW Empire Wind 1 was the subject of a ‘stop work’ order from the DOI in April, sparking outrage from Equinor and the wider offshore wind sector.
The order was lifted a month later, apparently as a result of some high-level diplomacy by the Norwegian government, which owns Equinor, and haggling over the future of gas projects in New York state, which will take the offshore wind farm’s power.
This week’s submission regarding suggests the Trump Administration has no plans to let Empire Wind 2 off the hook.
A review of the Empire Wind 2 COP – the key federal approval projects need to move into construction – would be the latest of a string of such moves by the Trump government as part of its wide-ranging assault on the offshore wind sector.
Any action against Empire Wind 2 could be largely symbolic, however, as Equinor and BP – which then co-owned the project – parked it in early 2024 after its original offtake agreement was deemed unviable, and a move to resurrect it under the Trump administration seems unlikely.
In its own filing this week, the Empire Wind project company said it “reserves its right to argue against and/or oppose” any reconsideration of the COP approval for Empire Wind 2.