Trump Administration to appeal court rulings allowing offshore wind projects to resume construction – Report
offshoreWIND.biz|Adrijana Buljan|Feb 12, 2026
The Trump Administration plans to appeal federal court decisions that allowed offshore wind projects to resume construction despite initial stop-work orders due to national security concerns related to radar and sonar interference. The Department of the Interior cited additional risks from technologies like autonomous drones and submarines used in these projects. The affected wind farms include Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind-Commercial, Empire Wind 1, Revolution Wind, Sunrise Wind, and Vineyard Wind 1, with some nearing completion and expected to start delivering electricity soon.
The Trump Administration plans to appeal federal court decisions that allowed offshore wind projects to resume construction despite initial stop-work orders due to national security concerns related to radar and sonar interference. The Department of the Interior cited additional risks from technologies like autonomous drones and submarines used in these projects. The affected wind farms include Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind-Commercial, Empire Wind 1, Revolution Wind, Sunrise Wind, and Vineyard Wind 1, with some nearing completion and expected to start delivering electricity soon.
The US government will fight the federal court decisions to grant preliminary injunctions in cases challenging the stop-work orders for offshore wind projects under construction, issued on 22 December 2025. The injunctions allowed the construction to resume while the underlying lawsuits are underway.
The US Secretary of the Interior, Doug Burgum, told Bloomberg Television the Department of the Interior (DOI) would appeal the rulings and added that, once the government shares classified reports in a court session, “there will be further discussion on this”.
Burgum reiterated national security risks as the DOI’s reason for the offshore wind construction halt, which primarily revolve around radar and sonar interference, but in the talk …
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The US government will fight the federal court decisions to grant preliminary injunctions in cases challenging the stop-work orders for offshore wind projects under construction, issued on 22 December 2025. The injunctions allowed the construction to resume while the underlying lawsuits are underway.
The US Secretary of the Interior, Doug Burgum, told Bloomberg Television the Department of the Interior (DOI) would appeal the rulings and added that, once the government shares classified reports in a court session, “there will be further discussion on this”.
Burgum reiterated national security risks as the DOI’s reason for the offshore wind construction halt, which primarily revolve around radar and sonar interference, but in the talk with Bloomberg, the US Interior Secretary also mentioned autonomous drones and autonomous “submarines” as the technology used in offshore wind that makes the country’s defence system vulnerable.
The five projects affected by the suspension are Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind-Commercial, Empire Wind 1, Revolution Wind, Sunrise Wind, and Vineyard Wind 1.
On 2 February, the US District Court for the District of Columbia granted the preliminary injunction sought by Ørsted for its Sunrise Wind project, the last of the five halted projects to be granted the relief.
While Sunrise Wind is around halfway into construction, two of the five offshore wind farms are at a very advanced stage.
At the time when the US government ordered the pause, Vineyard Wind 1, being built off Massachusetts, had one wind turbine to install. The construction on the 806 MW project, which was restarted after the court go-ahead, is scheduled to be completed by 31 March, with the wind farm expected to start delivering electricity at full capacity to the state’s grid soon after that.
The 704 MW Revolution Wind, being built by Ørsted and Skyborn Renewables off Connecticut and Rhode Island, was approximately 87 per cent complete and was expected to begin generating power in January, when the developer received the order to pause construction.
Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind (CVOW), being built by Dominion Energy, saw its first turbine go up immediately after being granted a preliminary injunction.
Once built, CVOW will become the biggest US offshore wind farm and one of the biggest in the world.