Ørsted: new legal file opened against US government's halt of wind farm construction (Sunrise Wind)

Ørsted opened litigation against the US District Court regarding the suspension of the lease of its wholly owned subsidiary Sunrise Wind, announced the Danish offshore wind company on 07/01/2026.

The offshore project received a lease suspension order on 22/12/2025 from the US Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), "which will be followed by a motion for a preliminary injunction".

"While Sunrise Wind continues to seek to work constructively with the Administration and other stakeholders towards an expeditious and durable resolution of this matter, it believes that the lease suspension order violates applicable law", Ørsted said.

According to the Danish company, the project "faces substantial harm from a continuation of the lease suspension order. As a result, litigation is a necessary step to protect the rights of the project".

The Sunrise Wind Project has already installed "44 of 84 monopile foundations as well as the converter station. At the time of the lease suspension order, the project was expected to begin generating power in October 2026".

"At a time of increasing energy demand, the project will deliver reliable power and increased stability to the electric grid with industry experts forecasting that ratepayers could face increased risks to reliability without the completion of Sunrise Wind. The project will deliver affordable power at a stable rate to nearly 600,000 homes once fully operational in 2027 under a 25-year contract with the State of New York", stressed Ørsted.

On 01/01/2026, Revolution Wind, a 50/50 joint venture between Global Infrastructure Partners’ Skyborn Renewables and Ørsted, made similar filings in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.