The U.S. offshore wind power sector faces further restrictions. On December 22, the U.S. government announced the suspension of five offshore wind power projects currently under construction, citing "national security risks."
This decision was made by the U.S. Department of the Interior based on a classified report from the Department of Defense. According to Global Times, the U.S. Department of the Interior stated in a press release that the recently completed classified report by the Department of Defense determined that offshore wind power projects "pose a national security risk," namely that the movement of wind turbine blades and light reflection could interfere with radar detection.
The suspended projects include Orsted's Revolution Wind and Sunrise Wind projects, Avangrid's Vineyard Wind 1 project with its Copenhagen infrastructure partner, and Dominion Energy's project. Dominion Energy's Virginia offshore wind project and Equinor's Empire Wind 1 project. Several of these projects are in the later stages of construction.
Following the announcement, the stock prices of the relevant listed companies plummeted. Ørsted's stock price fell by over 12% that day, while Dominion Energy and Statoil's stock prices also declined. Eric Millito, president of the National Oceanic Industry Association (NOIA), revealed that each of the aforementioned projects under construction had previously been reviewed by the Department of Defense without any objections.
On the same day, Dominion Energy issued a statement emphasizing that its offshore wind power project in Virginia is crucial to U.S. national security and to meeting Virginia's rapidly growing energy needs, especially for the state's data centers . and artificial intelligence The shutdown of the industry would threaten the reliability of its power grid, potentially triggering energy inflation and jeopardizing thousands of jobs.
Northern Virginia is home to one of the world's largest clusters of data centers and is also home to the " Data Center Alley." Last week, U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren cited data indicating that as the state has the highest concentration of data centers, average electricity prices could rise by another 25% by 2030 due to increased demand. New York Democratic Senator Chuck Schumer, Senate Minority Leader, also stated that the Department of the Interior's decision will lead to soaring electricity prices.
According to foreign media reports, construction of offshore wind farms in Virginia is 60% complete. Once completed, they will supply more than 2 gigawatts of energy to the grid, enough to power approximately 660,000 homes.
The U.S. Department of the Interior stated that this suspension will give the federal government time to work with leaseholders and state governments to assess whether the national security risks posed by these projects can be mitigated.
Since taking office in early 2025, Trump has implemented a number of restrictive measures on the development of offshore wind power. It is worth noting that just about two weeks before this suspension order was issued, a U.S. federal district court ruled that a previous executive order by the Trump administration suspending offshore wind permits was "illegal."
(Source: The Paper)
