Orsted-Backed Wind Farm Should Remain on Pause, US Tells Judge

(Bloomberg) —

The Trump administration asked a judge to deny a request by an Orsted A/S-backed wind farm venture to let it resume construction during a lawsuit challenging a government stop-work order, with potentially billions of dollars of investments and hundreds of jobs at stake.

Revolution Wind LLC, co-owned by Orsted and Global Infrastructure Partners, is seeking a preliminary injunction against an Aug. 22 stop-work order so it can finish the project off the coast of Rhode Island, which the company says is 80% complete. Revolution Wind had supported its request by saying the company had already spent $5 billion on the project and is now at risk of incurring an estimated $1 billion in breakaway costs.

The Trump administration argues that Revolution Wind’s request didn’t include enough detail about the expected breakaway costs or other construction deadlines to justify an “extraordinary” injunction, according to a Sept. 12 filing by the government in Washington federal court.

“With respect to the $5 billion figure, Revolution Wind has not explained how lack of money already spent would threaten the future viability of its business,” the government said.

‘Back to Work’

While Denmark-based Orsted declined to comment on the government filing, Chief Financial Officer Trond Westlie said in an interview that the project remains a priority.

“Our goal is to get back to work on Revolution Wind as soon as possible,” Westlie said. “And we work in multiple tracks to make that happen.”

The company said Monday that it will offer new shares at a heavy discount as the offshore wind developer pushes ahead with a $9.4 billion rights offering to shore up its finances after bets, including Revolution Wind, on the US market went wrong. The subscription price of 66.6 kroner represents a 67% discount to Orsted’s closing price on Friday and of 39% to the theoretical ex-rights price — the stock’s estimated value after the issue of new shares.

Revolution Wind, which sued Sept. 4, argues in the lawsuit that the sudden halt to construction after years of coordination with the government violates its constitutional due process rights, mirroring claims in a separate lawsuit filed the same day by Rhode Island and Connecticut. The cases kick off a major legal battle over a flurry of recent orders reflecting President Donald Trump’s longstanding antipathy to wind power.

The stop work order cited national security concerns as well as “potential interference with other reasonable uses of federal waters,” the US said. The order was issued just hours after Danish foreign minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen signed a climate agreement with California Governor Gavin Newsom, prompting speculation in Denmark, where Orsted is based, that Trump made his move in retaliation.

© 2025 Bloomberg L.P.

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