Equinor Books USD 955 Million Empire Wind Impairment

July 23, 2025, by Adrijana Buljan

Equinor has reported a net operating income of USD 5.72 billion (around EUR 4.88 billion) in the second quarter of 2025, down from USD 7.66 billion (around EUR 6.53 billion) in the same quarter last year, with this quarter’s figures including an impairment of USD 955 million (around EUR 814 million) related to the company’s Empire Wind projects in the US.

Of the USD 955 million impairment, USD 763 million (around EUR 650 million) is related to the combined Empire Wind 1/South Brooklyn Marine Terminal (SBMT) project, which is under construction, and USD 192 million (around EUR 164 million) to Equinor’s undeveloped Empire Wind 2 lease.

“The offshore wind industry is facing major financial and regulatory challenges in the US. Reduced expected synergies from future offshore wind projects resulting from regulatory changes and increased exposure to tariffs impacted the project economics negatively in the second quarter 2025”, the company states in its Q2 2025 report, published on 23 July.

The Empire Wind 1 offshore wind farm entered offshore construction with seabed preparation activities that started in March this year. In April, the US federal government halted the construction to conduct a further review of the project’s permitting, after which Equinor said the project may miss its construction window this year and subsequently enter commercial operation later. However, the following month, the US government allowed the project to resume offshore work.

Equinor Resumes Empire Wind 1 Construction as US Gov’t Lifts Stop-Work Order

Authorities

In its latest financial report, Equinor says the 810 MW Empire Wind 1 project is on track, with construction activities on both the SBMT terminal and the offshore wind farm progressing according to plan.

The developer aims to complete planned activities in the offshore installation window in 2025 and reach the planned commercial operation date in 2027.

Located 25-48 kilometres (15-30 miles) southeast of Long Island, Empire Wind 1 will comprise 54 Vestas 15 MW wind turbines and is planned to produce first power in late 2026, before full commissioning the following year.

The South Brooklyn Marine Terminal (SBMT) in Sunset Park, where Equinor will build Empire Wind’s operations and maintenance (O&M) facility, is a key component of the 810 MW project, which will become the first offshore wind farm to be connected to New York City’s grid.