Empire Offshore Wind LLC (Empire), a subsidiary of Equinor ASA—a multinational energy company headquartered in Norway—has been informed by the US Department of the Interior’s (DOI) Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) that the stop work order has been lifted for the Empire Wind offshore wind (OSW) project, allowing construction activities to resume. The stop work order was issued on April 16, 2025, followed by continued dialogue with regulators and federal, state, and city officials.
Equinor management thanked the US government, local officials, labor groups and other advocates, along with Norwegian heads of state, for “finding a solution that saves thousands of American jobs and provides for continued investments in energy infrastructure in the US”.
Empire Wind brings supply chain investments in several US states, including New York, Louisiana, Pennsylvania, Texas, and South Carolina. Equinor will perform an updated assessment of the project economics in the second quarter of 2025.
After a competitive process, the US government first leased Empire a designated area of the outer continental shelf off the coast of New York in 2017. After an extensive environmental review process, the government approved the plan to build a commercial offshore wind farm (OWF) in early 2024, after which construction started. Project financing was secured in 2024.
The US is a core country in Equinor’s portfolio. Since the early 2000s, Equinor has invested approximately $60 billion in US energy projects, mainly within oil and gas, and more recently within low carbon solutions, critical minerals, and renewables.
The project is currently more than 30 per cent complete. Empire aims to be able to execute planned activities in the offshore installation window in 2025 and reach its planned commercial operation date in 2027.