Ørsted Joint Venture Seeks Injunction After BOEM Halts Revolution Wind

Revolution Wind LLC filed a supplemental complaint on Jan. 1, 2026 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia challenging a Dec. 22, 2025 lease suspension issued by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management. The joint venture, owned equally by Denmark’s Ørsted and Skyborn Renewables, said it will follow the complaint with a motion for a preliminary injunction to block enforcement of the suspension.

The suit targets BOEM’s decision to suspend the Revolution Wind lease, a project developers describe as nearly complete and sited roughly 15 miles south of Rhode Island. Ørsted and its partner say they have invested about $5 billion in the development to date. The companies argue the suspension will inflict immediate and irreparable harm, pointing to an earlier stop-work order issued in August 2025 that already interrupted activity on the project.

In its public filing and press release, Ørsted framed litigation as necessary to protect the project’s economic footprint. The company said Revolution Wind “has supported thousands of American jobs across construction, operations, shipbuilding, and manufacturing,” and has produced “more than 1,000 union jobs that have already contributed 2 million union work hours.” Ørsted described the project as part of a broader U.S. investment in grid upgrades, port infrastructure, and a domestic supply chain stretching to more than 40 states. The company stated that litigation is “a necessary step to protect the rights of the Project,” and argued the project “faces substantial harm from a continuation of the lease suspension order.”

The action comes as federal policymakers and courts confront a wave of litigation from developers whose late-stage offshore wind projects have been paused by federal orders. Dominion Energy Virginia has mounted a similar federal challenge to a stop-work order on its Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind project, and Ørsted disclosed that its Sunrise Wind LLC subsidiary received a BOEM lease suspension on Dec. 22 and is evaluating options, including potential legal action.

Market reaction was immediate. Shares of Copenhagen-listed Ørsted rose more than 4 percent on the court filing, signaling investor relief at the prospect of a legal path forward. For developers, a successful injunction would restore construction momentum and protect equipment contracts and financing arrangements that are typically sensitive to operational pauses. A court defeat for the companies could shutter projects that have already attracted billions in private capital and anchored regional industrial investment.

The lawsuit also raises broader questions about the scope of federal authority to step in after permits have been issued and projects financed. If courts accept BOEM’s suspension authority in this context, legal experts say it could embolden more aggressive regulatory intervention in other late-stage energy projects. Conversely, a ruling for the developers could harden industry expectations that once a project reaches advanced permitting and financing stages it is insulated from mid-course federal disruption.

BOEM’s written rationale for the Dec. 22 suspension was not detailed in the companies’ filings. Ørsted’s press release, filed from Providence, R.I., provided media contact information: Ørsted Global Media Relations, Michael Korsgaard, +45 99 55 95 52, globalmedia@orsted.com. The court will next consider the companies’ request for a preliminary injunction, a decision that could shape the pace and political future of U.S. offshore wind development.