Orsted – Revolution Wind receives offshore stop-work order from US Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management
On 22 August 2025, Ørsted’s subsidiary Revolution Wind LLC, a 50/50 joint venture with Global Infrastructure Partner’s Skyborn Renewables, received an order instructing the project to stop activities on the outer continental shelf related to the Revolution Wind project from the US Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM).
Revolution Wind is complying with the order and is taking appropriate steps to stop offshore activities, ensuring the safety of workers and the environment.
The project commenced offshore construction following the final federal approval from BOEM last year. The project is 80% complete with all offshore foundations installed and 45 out of 65 wind turbines installed.
Ørsted is evaluating all options to resolve the matter expeditiously. This includes engagement with relevant permitting agencies for any necessary clarification or resolution as well as through potential legal proceedings, with the aim being to proceed with continued project construction towards COD in the second half of 2026.
Revolution Wind is fully permitted, having secured all required federal and state permits including its Construction and Operations Plan approval letter on 17 November 2023 following reviews that began more than nine years ago. Revolution Wind has 20-year power purchase agreements to deliver 400 MW of electricity to Rhode Island and 304 MW to Connecticut, enough to power over 350,000 homes across both states to meet their growing energy demand. As a reference, South Fork Wind, which is adjacent to Revolution Wind and uses the same turbine technology, delivered reliable energy to New York at a capacity factor of 53% for the first half of 2025, on par with the state’s baseload power sources.
Ørsted is investing into American energy generation, grid upgrades, port infrastructure, and a supply chain, including US shipbuilding and manufacturing extending to more than 40 states. Revolution Wind is already employing hundreds of local union workers supporting both on and offshore construction activities. Ørsted’s US offshore wind projects have totalled approximately 4 million labour union hours to date, 2 million of which are with Revolution Wind.
Ørsted is evaluating the potential financial implications of this development, considering a range of scenarios, including legal proceedings. Ørsted will, in due course, advise the market on the potential impact of the order on the plan announced on 11 August 2025 (company announcement 12/2025) to conduct a rights issue. Existing shareholders and prospective investors are advised to await further announcements by the company.
SourceØrsted
EMR Analysis
More information on Ørsted: See the full profile on EMR Executive Services
More information on Lene Skole (Chairwoman of the Board of Directors, Ørsted): See the full profile on EMR Executive Services
More information on Rasmus Errboe (Group President and Chief Executive Officer, Ørsted): See the full profile on EMR Executive Services
More information on Trond Westlie (Group Executive Team – Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer, Ørsted): See the full profile on EMR Executive Services
More information on Revolution Wind by Ørsted: https://revolution-wind.com/ + Revolution Wind brings unparalleled experience to Connecticut and Rhode Island. This project will help both states meet their ambitious clean energy goals in an affordable way by providing 304 MW to Connecticut and 400 MW to Rhode Island.
More information on South Fork Wind by Ørsted: https://southforkwind.com/ + South Fork Wind is New York’s first commercial-scale offshore wind farm, consisting of 12 turbines and an offshore substation. South Fork Wind generates 132 MW of clean power, which will be used to power 70,000 homes on Long Island.
With South Fork Wind, the Empire State is piling up national offshore wind firsts. The project features the country’s first American-built offshore substation, and is the first offshore wind farm to use an American-made and -crewed service operations vessel. To provide long-term support to South Fork Wind, New York is opening its first Operations & Maintenance center in East Setauket and a first offshore wind training center in Brentwood.
- 132 MW of power
- Generated by South Fork’s 12 turbines that power ~70,000 homes per year with clean energy.
- 1,000+ new jobs
- Nearly a thousand workers spread across five states have contributed to building South Fork Wind.
- 6M tons of C02 avoided over 25 years
- Every year, clean energy from South Fork Wind will eliminate C02 emissions equivalent to those produced by 60,000 cars.
More information on the US Department of the Interior, USA: https://www.doi.gov/ + The U.S. Department of the Interior protects and manages the Nation’s natural resources and cultural heritage; provides scientific and other information about those resources; and honors its trust responsibilities or special commitments to American Indians, Alaska Natives, Native Hawaiians, and affiliated Island Communities.
More information on Doug Burgum (55th Secretary, the US Department of the Interior, USA): https://www.doi.gov/secretary-doug-burgum + https://www.linkedin.com/in/doug-burgum-03019111/
More information on the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) by the US Department of the Interior, USA: https://www.boem.gov/ + The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) is the Federal agency in the U.S. Department of the Interior that manages our nation’s offshore energy, mineral, and geological resources. The program is national in scope and is headquartered in Washington, D.C. Regional offices are located in New Orleans, Louisiana.; Camarillo, California, northwest of Los Angeles; and Anchorage, Alaska.
More information on Matthew Giacona (Acting Director, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, the US Department of the Interior, USA): https://www.boem.gov/about-boem/boem-leadership
More information on Skyborn Renewables: www.skybornrenewables.com + Skyborn Renewables is one of the world’s leading offshore wind platforms. As a pioneer of global decarbonisation, we have been accelerating offshore wind energy since 2000.
Skyborn Renewables is an agile global offshore wind partner. We believe in a world powered by the forces of nature and make offshore wind power available to communities and businesses across the globe, securing a sustainable clean energy supply for future generations.
Our ~ 400 employees cover the entire offshore wind power value chain, and are currently working on a global pipeline of more than 20 GW in various stages of development.
More information on Patrick Lammers (Chief Executive Officer, Skyborn Renewables): https://www.skybornrenewables.com/company/management-team + https://www.linkedin.com/in/patrick-lammers-0b109519/
EMR Additional Notes:
- COD (Commercial Operation Date):
- This is a key milestone in large-scale projects, particularly in the energy and infrastructure sectors. It signifies the date on which the project is officially considered complete and ready to begin its intended commercial purpose, such as a power plant starting to generate electricity for sale.
- Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs):
- A Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) often refers to a long-term electricity supply agreement between two parties, usually between a power producer and a customer (an electricity consumer or trader). The PPA defines the conditions of the agreement, such as the amount of electricity to be supplied, negotiated prices, accounting, and penalties for non-compliance. Since it is a bilateral agreement, a PPA can take many forms and is usually tailored to the specific application. Electricity can be supplied physically or on a balancing sheet. PPAs can be used to reduce market price risks, which is why they are frequently implemented by large electricity consumers to help reduce investment costs associated with planning or operating renewable energy plants.
- Depending on regulation and the market environment, different situations can arise in which PPAs are an advantageous form of financing or a stabilizing factor in long-term power delivery.
- Kilowatt (KW):
- A kilowatt is simply a measure of how much power an electric appliance consumes—it’s 1,000 watts to be exact. You can quickly convert watts (W) to kilowatts (kW) by diving your wattage by 1,000: 1,000W 1,000 = 1 kW.
- Megawatt (MW):
- One megawatt equals one million watts or 1,000 kilowatts, roughly enough electricity for the instantaneous demand of 750 homes at once.
- Gigawatt (GW):
- A gigawatt (GW) is a unit of power, and it is equal to one billion watts.
- According to the Department of Energy, generating one GW of power takes over three million solar panels or 310 utility-scale wind turbines
- Terawatt (TW):
- One terawatt is equal to 1,000,000,000,000 watts.
- The main use of terawatts is found in the electric power industry.
- According to the United States Energy Information Administration, America is one of the largest electricity consumers in the world using about 4,146.2 terawatt-hours.
- Grid, Microgrids, DERs and DERM’s:
- Grid / Power Grid:
- The power grid is a network for delivering electricity to consumers. The power grid includes generator stations, transmission lines and towers, and individual consumer distribution lines.
- The grid constantly balances the supply and demand for the energy that powers everything from industry to household appliances.
- Electric grids perform three major functions: power generation, transmission, and distribution.
- The power grid is a network for delivering electricity to consumers. The power grid includes generator stations, transmission lines and towers, and individual consumer distribution lines.
- Microgrid:
- Small-scale power grid that can operate independently or collaboratively with other small power grids. The practice of using microgrids is known as distributed, dispersed, decentralized, district or embedded energy production.
- Smart Grid:
- Any electrical grid + IT at all levels.
- Micro Grid:
- Group of interconnected loads and DERs (Distributed Energy Resources) within a clearly defined electrical and geographical boundaries witch acts as a single controllable entity with respect to the main grid.
- Distributed Energy Resources (DERs):
- Small-scale electricity supply (typically in the range of 3 kW to 50 MW) or demand resources that are interconnected to the electric grid. They are power generation resources and are usually located close to load centers, and can be used individually or in aggregate to provide value to the grid.
- Common examples of DERs include rooftop solar PV units, natural gas turbines, microturbines, wind turbines, biomass generators, fuel cells, tri-generation units, battery storage, electric vehicles (EV) and EV chargers, and demand response applications.
- Small-scale electricity supply (typically in the range of 3 kW to 50 MW) or demand resources that are interconnected to the electric grid. They are power generation resources and are usually located close to load centers, and can be used individually or in aggregate to provide value to the grid.
- Distributed Energy Resources Management Systems (DERMS):
- Platforms which helps mostly distribution system operators (DSO) manage their grids that are mainly based on distributed energy resources (DER).
- DERMS are used by utilities and other energy companies to aggregate a large energy load for participation in the demand response market. DERMS can be defined in many ways, depending on the use case and underlying energy asset.
- Platforms which helps mostly distribution system operators (DSO) manage their grids that are mainly based on distributed energy resources (DER).
- Grid / Power Grid:
- Supply Chain:
- Network of all the individuals, organizations, resources, activities and technology involved in the creation and sale of a product. A supply chain encompasses everything from the delivery of source materials from the supplier to the manufacturer through to its eventual delivery to the end user.
- At the most fundamental level, Supply Chain Management (SCM) is management of the flow of goods, data, and finances related to a product or service, from the procurement of raw materials to the delivery of the product at its final destination.