Equinor: ‘Situation for Empire Wind Unsustainable, We Need to Find Way Forward for Project Quickly’

Following reports saying Equinor may pull the plug on the Empire Wind 1 project if the US government does not lift the order halting the construction soon, a company spokesperson confirmed to offshoreWIND.biz it was costing Equinor USD 50 million (around EUR 45 million) per week to keep the project on hold and said the developer was looking for a way to get the project moving again quickly.

“The situation for the Empire Wind project is unsustainable and we need to find a way forward for the project quickly. We are actively seeking a resolution towards US federal authorities to the stop work order previously issued by BOEM”, the Equinor spokesperson said in a statement to offshoreWIND.biz.

The news about Equinor considering cancelling Empire Wind 1 emerged as the president of Equinor Renewables Americas, Molly Morris, said in an interview that the company could abandon the project “in the coming days” if the stop-work order was not lifted.

The developer recently said that it was considering its options following the construction halt, including legal action. However, according to the latest information shared by the company, this would tie up the project in courts, and it is already at risk of missing this year’s construction window and being set back by a year.

Offshore construction work on Empire Wind 1 started in March and was paused by the US government in April, when the project site was about to undergo rock installation ahead of foundation installation work.

After complying with the order to halt construction, issued by the US Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) on the instruction the Department of the Interior (DOI), Equinor said that Empire Wind had, as of 31 March 2025, a gross book value of around USD 2.5 billion (approximately EUR 2.2 billion), including South Brooklyn Marine Terminal in Sunset Park, which is being upgraded into an offshore wind hub and will house the operations and maintenance (O&M) facility for Empire Wind.

“Total amount drawn under the project finance term loan facility per 31 March 2025 was around USD 1.5 billion. Empire is in the process of ascertaining the impact on the project and project financing. Equinor US Holdings Inc has provided guarantees for the equity commitment in the project financing. In a full stop scenario, the USD 1.5 billion will be repaid from the equity commitment to the project finance lenders and Empire Offshore Wind LLC will be exposed to termination fees towards its suppliers”, Equinor said in April.

The standstill is also costing Equinor, with USD 50 million per week lost to keep the project on pause. Equinor’s Molly Morris told Politico that the company has vessels on standby, which cost the company about USD 1 million (around EUR 901,000) per day.