The Trump administration has ordered Denmark’s Orsted to stop far-advanced construction on an offshore wind project near Rhode Island, in a move that threatens to exacerbate the company’s financial troubles.
With construction now frozen at 80 per cent completion, Orsted has no immediate path to revenue generation, heightening pressure on the company as it seeks to shore up finances through a $9.4 billion emergency rights issue.
The stop-work order, issued by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), is the administration’s latest effort to hinder US 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.
The company said it would “in due course” advise the market on the potential impact on its plans to conduct the rights issue.
A spokesperson for the company, owned 50.1pc by the Danish state, declined to comment further.
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 criticised wind energy as ugly, unreliable and expensive.
The $1.5bn project that Orsted was constructing, Revolution Wind, was scheduled to be completed next year and expected to produce enough electricity to power 350,000 homes in Rhode Island and Connecticut.
All offshore foundations had been installed and 45 out of 65 wind turbines were already in place, Orsted said.
The National Ocean Energy Industries Association, an industry trade group, said halting work on a project that is almost finished would jeopardise jobs and investment.
“These projects are not only about energy,” NOIA president Erik Milito said.
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.
&uuid=(email))