Empire Wind Heads to Court After Federal Government Freezes Project Again

By Y.M. Lowy

The Empire Wind offshore wind project, which is being built to supply electricity to New York City, has been stopped again by the federal government, even though much of the work is already finished.

BoroPark24 reported in May that the Trump administration had briefly shut down the project and then allowed it to move forward after city and state officials pushed back, saying it would create jobs and provide power to hundreds of thousands of homes. That approval has now been reversed for a second time.

In late December, the federal government announced it was pausing leases for five offshore wind projects along the East Coast, including Empire Wind 1. Federal officials said the pause is due to national security concerns, claiming the wind turbines could interfere with military radar systems.

The project includes a major operations and maintenance hub at the South Brooklyn Marine Terminal in Sunset Park, just minutes from Boro Park.

The company behind the project, Equinor, says the decision could seriously damage the project and has now filed a lawsuit against the federal government. The company is asking a judge to allow construction to continue while the case is reviewed, warning that long delays could cause the project to fall apart because of missed schedules, rising costs, and financing problems.

Empire Wind 1 is a $5 billion project and, once finished, is expected to provide electricity to about 500,000 New York City homes. So far, the project has supported nearly 4,000 jobs, many of them tied to the Sunset Park terminal.

New York Governor Kathy Hochul and governors from other Northeast states criticized the pause, saying it could lead to job losses and higher energy costs. Federal officials, however, say national security concerns must come first.

The court will now decide whether construction can restart while the legal challenge continues.