The Revolution Wind project off the coast of Rhode Island can continue, a federal judge ruled Monday, despite an order from the Trump administration last month to stop work on the project.

Work has been paused since the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management sent a letter on Aug. 22 to Danish energy company Orsted, saying construction had to halt due to "national security interests." The letter did not specify what those concerns were.

Orsted and its joint venture partner Skyborn Renewables sought a preliminary injunction in U.S. District Court that would allow them to move forward with the project.

Judge allows Revolution Wind to move forward

At a hearing Monday, Judge Royce Lamberth said he considered how Revolution Wind has relied on its federal approval, the delays are costing $2.3 million a day and if the project can't meet deadlines, the entire enterprise could collapse. After December, the specialized ship needed to complete the project won't be available until at least 2028, he said. More than 1,000 people have been working on the wind farm, which is 80% complete.

"There is no question in my mind of irreparable harm to the plaintiffs," Lamberth said, as he granted the motion for the preliminary injunction. In his written ruling, he said Revolution Wind had "demonstrated likelihood of success on the merits" of its claim, adding that granting the injunction is in the public interest.

Some fishermen on the south coast of Massachusetts were among those who had hoped work would be allowed to continue. Captain Jack Morris, a lifelong scalloper working out of New Bedford, told WBZ-TV that he and other fishermen had found steady work by patrolling offshore construction sites and acting as a safety vessel.

"This has been a great thing for them, and it's been a great thing for me and the boat," Morris said. "Everything's going good with the projects. There's been no safety issues."

Interior Department spokeswoman Elizabeth Peace said the ruling means Revolution Wind "will be able to resume construction" while the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management "continues its investigation into possible impacts by the project to national security and prevention of other uses on the Outer Continental Shelf."

The administration said in a court filing this month that while BOEM approved the wind farm, it stipulated that the developer continue to work with the Department of Defense to mitigate national security concerns. It said the Interior Department, to date, has not received any information that these concerns have been addressed.

Orsted said Monday that construction will resume as soon as possible, and it will continue to seek to work collaboratively with the administration.

"This ruling confirms what we've known all along - that the Trump administration's attempt to stop Revolution Wind is not only a violation of the law but a dramatic overreach," Kate Sinding Daly, senior vice president for law and policy at the Boston-based Conservation Law Foundation, said in a statement. "The court's decision restores momentum toward bringing clean, local power to New England, strengthening our energy security, and supporting thousands of jobs across the region."     

"This will not be the final say"

White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly said Trump was elected with a mandate to "restore our country's energy dominance — which includes prioritizing the most effective and reliable tools to power our country. This will not be the final say on the matter."

On the campaign trail, Trump vowed to end the offshore wind industry as soon as he returned to the White House. He wants to boost production of fossil fuels such as oil, natural gas and coal, which emit greenhouse gases that cause climate change, in order for the U.S. to have the lowest-cost energy and electricity of any nation in the world, he says.

His administration has stopped construction on major offshore wind farms, revoked wind energy permits and paused permitting, canceled plans to use large areas of federal waters for new offshore wind development and stopped $679 million in federal funding for a dozen offshore wind projects.

Last week, the administration moved to block a separate Massachusetts offshore wind farm. That was just days after the Interior Department asked a federal judge in Baltimore to cancel previous approval to build an offshore wind project in Maryland.

Revolution Wind is supposed to be Rhode Island's and Connecticut's first large offshore wind farm, capable of supplying power to more than 350,000 homes, about 2.5% of the region's electricity needs.

Orsted began construction in 2024 about 15 miles south of the Rhode Island coast. It says in its complaint that about $5 billion has been spent or committed, and it expects more than $1 billion in costs if the project is canceled. Rhode Island is already home to one offshore wind farm, the five-turbine Block Island Wind Farm.