The U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) has paused leases for all large-scale offshore wind projects due to national security risks identified by the Department of War (DOW) (DOI press release, 22/12/2025).
- This announcement will freeze the development of five projects along the U.S. East Coast, representing nearly 6 GW of energy, which were scheduled to begin commercial operation in 2026 and 2027.
- The projects affected by the suspension include Ørsted’s Revolution Wind (700 MW) and Sunrise Wind (920 MW), Avangrid and Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners’ (CIP) Vineyard Wind 1 (800 MW), Dominion Energy’s Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind (CVOW, 2.6 GW), and Equinor’s Empire Wind 1 (810 MW).
Developers like Equinor and Ørsted have already announced they are in discussions with U.S. authorities regarding security concerns related to their projects. Meanwhile, U.S.-based Dominion Energy has filed a lawsuit, asking a federal court to block the order by the U.S. administration to halt work on its 2.6 GW project. Dominion has already invested nearly US$9bn in the project, which was expected to start generating electricity for consumers in early 2026 (ESG Today, 30/12/2025).
Additionally, four U.S. governors have called on the U.S. DOI to immediately lift stop-work orders imposed on the five projects. In a joint letter, the leaders of Connecticut, Massachusetts, New York, and Rhode Island stated that the suspensions were issued on the basis of unspecified “national security concerns” and argued that the projects had already passed extensive federal reviews (Governors’ letter to DOI, 24/12/2025).
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