The Trump administration has raised its stop ordering to the Empire 1 of 810-MW Offshore New York project, allowing construction to resume, said Equinor developer on Monday.
New York Governor Kathy Hochul, D, said in a statement on Monday that “innumerable conversations with Equinor and White House officials” had led to the lifting of the stop order.
“Now, Equinor will resume the construction of this totally allowed project that had already received the necessary federal approval,” he said. “I also reaffirmed that New York would work with the administration and private entities on new energy projects that meet the legal requirements in accordance with New York legislation.”
Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said in a Monday X post that he was “encouraged by Governor Hochul’s comments on his desire to advance the critical capacity of pipes” for natural gas.
The stop ordering order was published on April 16 and last week Equinor He said that the situation would force the company to terminate the project completely if the situation was not resolved in a few days, as the shutdown cost about $ 50 million a week.
“I am grateful to Governor Hochul for his constructive collaboration with the Trump administration, without which we would not have been able to advance this project and secure energy for 500,000 homes in New York,” said Anders Onedal, president and CEO of Equinor in a statement.
Omedal also thanked the President, New York City Mayor Eric Adams, and several New York legislators, “as well as working groups and other defenders who have maintained their firm support for the project.”
When he issued the order, Burgum said in a letter to the Ocean Energy Management Office that the project was “ hurried by the previous administration without analysis or sufficient consultation between the relevant agencies in relation to the potential effects of the project ” and that the construction would remain stopped until “ a later review is completed to deal with these grave deficiencies ”.
Equinor said that “it will make an updated evaluation of the project economy in the second quarter” and that the project aims to “execute planned activities in the installation window out of the sea in 2025 and will reach its commercial operation date scheduled in 2027. Empire will be related to suppliers and regulatory organisms to reduce the impact of the unemployed order.”
