A federal judge on Monday will consider a request by Danish offshore wind developer Orsted to restart work on the nearly finished Revolution Wind project, which President Donald Trump's administration halted last month.
Orsted and its joint venture partner Skyborn Renewables are asking Judge Royce Lamberth of the US District Court in Washington to grant a preliminary injunction in a lawsuit they filed earlier this month challenging the US Interior Department's stop-work order.
Revolution Wind is located 15 miles (24 kilometres) off the coast of Rhode Island and, once completed, is expected to produce enough electricity to power 350,000 homes in Rhode Island and Connecticut.
The court's decision is critical for Orsted, which has said it is losing $2 million a day while the project is stopped. The company has invested or committed $5 billion to Revolution Wind, which was permitted in 2023 by the administration of former US President Joe Biden.
The Trump administration has been working to stop the offshore wind industry because Trump regards the projects as expensive and unreliable.
Federal attorneys opposed Orsted's request for an injunction, saying in court documents this month that the project has failed to comply with some conditions of its permit.
Those requirements include coordinating with the Navy to mitigate risks to military operations and with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration on avoiding impacts to scientific surveys.
Revolution Wind has argued that the administration did not follow formal procedures to address noncompliance, and said it has satisfied the permit requirements.
The company has also said the administration's specific concerns were only raised after it issued the stop-work order to justify its decision in litigation.
The August 22 order by the Interior Department's Bureau of Ocean Energy Management initially referenced unspecified national security concerns.
(Reporting by Nichola Groom; Editing by David Gregorio)
