Vineyard Wind Goes to Court to Block US Government’s Suspension Order

A GE Haliade-X Turbine Stands in the Vineyard Wind 1 Project Area (Credit: Worldview Films / Vineyard Wind)

Vineyard Wind, a nearly completed offshore wind project off the coast of Massachusetts, asked a federal court on Thursday to block the Trump administration's suspension of the industry in federal waters.

The filing came the same day a federal judge in Washington dealt the administration a legal setback by allowing construction to proceed on an Equinor project off the coast of New York.

Vineyard Wind, which is a joint venture between Spain's Iberdrola and Denmark's Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners, is seeking a temporary restraining order and injunction to lift the Interior Department's December 22 pause.

The project is 95% complete and was expected to be finished by March 31, according to documents filed in federal court in Massachusetts. It is already sending power to the grid, but is losing $2 million a day because of the administration's order, the company said.

The Trump administration suspended leases for five offshore wind projects last month over national security concerns tied to radar interference.

(Reuters - Reporting by Nichola Groom; Editing by Diane Craft)