The power firm behind {a partially} accomplished wind farm off Lengthy Island’s coast warned it would scrap the challenge “within days” if it’s stored in limbo by the Trump administration.
Norwegian-based Equinor mentioned it’s dropping a whopping $50 million every week since Trump’s Division of the Inside halted development on the controversial challenge that’s anticipated to ship power to 500,000 houses in New York Metropolis, its leaders informed The Publish.
“We will have to terminate the program within days if we don’t have a resolution with the federal government,” mentioned Molly Morris, Equinor’s president of Renewables in America. “This situation is unsustainable.”
The lack of the Empire Wind challenge could be a blow to New York state’s inexperienced power push and likewise imply the lack of as many as hundreds of jobs wanted for constructing the sprawling wind farm.
The challenge is supported by metropolis Mayor Eric Adams and Gov. Kathy Hochul and had obtained all the mandatory permits from the prior Biden Administration final yr.
Morris mentioned the suspension of the challenge is “unlawful” and Equinor has not dominated out submitting a lawsuit to undo the freeze as 11 vessels have been left ready on standby.
Empire Wind is greater than 30% full and development on the South Brooklyn Marine Terminal — the substation the place the wind energy could be delivered to connect with Con Edison’s grid — is greater than 50% accomplished, the corporate mentioned.
Greater than $2.5 billion has already been spent, Morris mentioned.
Building for the challenge created 1,500 jobs and as many as 4,000 complete jobs complete had been within the works, not simply in New York but in addition in Louisiana, Florida, Mississippi, South Carolina and Texas.
The 54-turbine wind farm, 15 miles off the Lengthy Island coast, is opposed by Lengthy Island seaside communities, industrial fishermen and Republican allies of President Trump — together with Nassau County Govt Bruce Blakeman.
Trump’s Secretary of the Inside Doug Burgum stepped in final month to drag the plug on the challenge, claiming its approval was “rushed through” by the lame duck Biden administration in its closing days.
“Staff of the Department of the Interior has obtained information that raises serious issues with respect to the project approvals for the Empire Wind Project,” Burgum mentioned in a press release on the time. “This halt is to remain in effect until further review is completed to address these serious deficiencies.”
However Equinor mentioned it signed its federal lease for Empire Wind with the primary Trump administration in 2017. Empire Wind had undergone years of rigorous overview and secured all mandatory federal, state and native approvals and permits to start development final yr, the corporate mentioned.
And the Large Apple’s mayor mentioned spoke up in help of the challenge when he met with Trump on the White Home final Friday in a bid to avoid wasting the challenge
“It’s a great project,” Adams mentioned following an unrelated press convention Monday. “When I was in DC I shared that with the president. “We’re going to continue to push forward to get [Empire Wind] across the finish line.”
It might be a troublesome promote for the president, who has been an opponent of wind energy — criticizing the renewable power supply as unreliable, expensive and dangerous to wildlife.
Upon taking workplace once more in January, he issued an government order to dam or pause all new offshore wind initiatives.
The president’s order didn’t explicitly halt initiatives that had already been permitted with federal leases and permits, as was the case with Equinor’s wind farm.
