Trump Administration Halts Construction of Nearly Finished Offshore Wind Farm

It happened again. For the second time this year, the Trump administration has halted construction of a massive offshore wind farm being built to power blue states.

Construction began on Revolution Wind in January 2024 and is now 80% complete, according to Ørsted. (Photo: Ørsted)

The acting director of the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), Matthew Giacona, recently ordered Danish wind developer Ørsted to stop all construction on the nearly complete Revolution Wind project, Clare Fieseler reported for Canary Media.

Giacona said the project was halted so the federal government could “address concerns related to the protection of national security interests of the US.”

Giacona, a former lobbyist for offshore oil and gas companies, did not specify the nature of those concerns. The move echoes an April order from the Interior Department that stopped all offshore work on New York’s Empire Wind project.

That pause lasted one month but cost the developer nearly $1 billion and drove the project to the brink of cancellation.

This time, with a Trump appointee now at the helm of BOEM, it is unclear how long the costly work stoppage might last. Construction began on Revolution Wind in January 2024 and is now 80% complete, according to Ørsted.

The wind farm is being built off the coasts of Massachusetts and Rhode Island in a federally designated “wind energy area.”

Once complete, the 704-megawatt project’s cables will come ashore in Rhode Island, and its carbon-free electricity will feed into New England’s regional grid. Revolution Wind is one of five offshore wind projects under construction in US waters.

The country currently has only one fully operational utility-scale offshore wind project: South Fork, near Long Island, New York.

President Donald Trump has promised that America would see “no new windmills” under his watch. Friday’s order is the latest step to make good on that pledge. The Trump administration has already killed offshore wind leasing, paused permitting, and unsettled tax credits critical to the economic viability of offshore wind farms.