A federal court in Massachusetts handed the Trump administration a fourth reversal Jan. 27 in its bid to shut down East Coast offshore wind projects, allowing Vineyard Wind to resume construction on its 95% complete turbine array.
Judge Brian E. Murphy of the U.S. District Court late Tuesday afternoon allowed Vineyard Wind to resume all activities on its federal lease area and the 804-megawatt rated project off southern New England. Vineyard Wind had fallen under the Interior Department’s blanket Dec. 22 stop-work order on five projects that alleged new secret information had revealed national security threats with radar interference from the projects.
Vineyard Wind filed its legal challenge Jan. 15 and the decision put a stay on to the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management suspension order.
“As the legal process proceeds, Vineyard Wind will continue to work with the Administration to understand the matters raised in the order,” the developers said in a statement. “Vineyard Wind will focus on working in coordination with its contractors, the federal government, and other relevant stakeholders and authorities to safely restart activities, as it continues to deliver a critical source of new power to the New England region.’
Similar court challenges have reversed the Trump administration’s shutdown of Revolution Wind off southern New England, Empire Wind off New York and the Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind project – the largest in U.S. waters. Wind developer Ørsted, which won the temporary reprieve for its Revolution Wind array, has filed an appeal for its Sunrise Wind project east of Montauk, N.Y.
In allowing Vineyard Wind to proceed, Judge Murphy found “the order was ‘likely arbitrary and capricious’, noting that the issues raised by the government pertained to wind farm operations, not construction, and the continuation of the suspension would irreparably harm the project and its developer,” the wind power advocacy group Oceantic Network said in a statement.
