The Trump administration has lifted its stop work order on the 810-MW Empire Wind 1 project offshore New York, allowing construction to resume, developer Equinor said Monday.
New York Governor Kathy Hochul, D, said in a Monday release that “countless conversations with Equinor and White House officials” had led to the lifting of the stop work order.
“Now, Equinor will resume the construction of this fully-permitted project that had already received the necessary federal approvals,” she said. “I also reaffirmed that New York will work with the Administration and private entities on new energy projects that meet the legal requirements under New York law.”
Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said in a Monday X post that he was “encouraged by Governor Hochul’s comments about her willingness to move forward on critical pipeline capacity” for natural gas.
The stop work order was issued April 16, and last week Equinor said the situation would force the company to terminate the project entirely if the situation wasn’t resolved within days, as the stoppage cost around $50 million a week.
“I am grateful to Governor Hochul for her constructive collaboration with the Trump Administration, without which we would not have been able to advance this project and secure energy for 500,000 homes in New York,” Anders Opedal, president and CEO of Equinor said in a release.
Opedal also thanked the president, New York City Mayor Eric Adams, and several New York lawmakers “as well as labour groups and other advocates that have maintained their steadfast support for the project.”
When issuing the order, Burgum said in a letter to the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management that the project was “rushed through by the prior administration without sufficient analysis or consultation among the relevant agencies as relates to the potential effects from the project” and that construction would remain halted until “further review is completed to address these serious deficiencies.”
Equinor said it will “perform an updated assessment of the project economics in the second quarter” and that the project aims to “execute planned activities in the offshore installation window in 2025 and reach its planned commercial operation date in 2027. Empire will engage with suppliers and regulatory bodies to reduce the impact of the stop work order.”
