Empire receives stop work order from US Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management
Empire Offshore Wind LLC is complying with the notice received from the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) on 22 December, ordering the suspension of ongoing activities on the Outer Continental Shelf citing national security concerns. The Department of Interior has confirmed that a total of five offshore wind projects under construction have received notices. Empire Wind is engaging with relevant authorities to better understand this matter. Equinor has extensive experience in the US and around the world operating offshore energy infrastructure and working with military and civilian authorities to ensure compliance with national security requirements.
Empire Wind will connect to New York’s grid, delivering reliable power and strengthen the state’s energy security. Once completed, the project will provide enough power to electrify 500,000 homes. Empire Wind has coordinated closely with the federal officials on national security reviews since it executed its lease for the project in 2017, including with the Department of War. Empire Wind is complying with relevant national security related requirements, identified as part of the regulatory process conducted over several years. Empire plans to continue to work with BOEM and other federal agencies to continue to implement all necessary mitigation for the project.
The project is more than 60% complete, with trenching, cable-laying and cable pulling ongoing on the US outer continental shelf. In total, dozens of vessels, around 1,000 people, and more than a hundred companies in the US and globally have been working in coordination on the Empire Wind project. The stop work order threatens the progress of these activities and without a swift solution there may be significant impact to the project.
Empire and its contractors are complying with the order, safely suspending all ongoing activities related to the Wind Project on the Outer Continental Shelf, with the ability to perform any activities that are necessary to respond to emergency situations and/or to prevent impacts to health, safety, and the environment.
Empire Wind is being developed under contract with New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) to deliver a critical new source of electricity for New York. that will bolster grid reliability at a time of rapidly growing demand. The project’s construction phase has put nearly 4,000 people to work, both within the lease area and in revitalization of the South Brooklyn Marine Terminal. Empire Wind has per 30 September 2025 a gross book value of around USD 3.1 billion, including South Brooklyn Marine Terminal. Total amount drawn under the project finance term loan facility per 30 November 2025 was around USD 2.8billion.
Equinor’s ownership to Empire is held through the Equinor Wind US LLC. Equinor is a broad energy company with more than 35 years of history in the US. Equinor has invested more than 60 billion USD in the US to date, including in oil, gas and renewables.
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