US Interior Department Seeks Administrative Review of Permit for Operating $6.2 Billion Offshore Wind Farm

The US Department of the Interior has asked a federal court to return for administrative review the 2023 construction and operations approval for a 704-megawatt offshore wind farm that has been generating power for six months and has all 65 of its turbines installed.

The motion effectively places the department on the side of opponents to a facility already in operation. The approval it is now contesting was issued after more than nine years of inter-agency coordination.

The legal push stems from a lawsuit by the organization Green Oceans, which accuses federal agencies of failing to properly assess the wind farm’s impact on ocean ecosystems. Rather than defending its own permit, the Interior Department agreed to treat the approval as disputed and asked the court to close the case against the regulator.

According to Canary Media, District Judge Royce Lambert of the District of Columbia has not yet ruled on the request. The review process could extend into early next year, and there is no immediate order to halt operations at the facility, which is designed to supply up to 350,000 households and on which consumers in the Northeast are counting.

Industry group Turn Forward said the permit review puts the project — a $6.2 billion investment already producing electricity — into question. The wind farm continues to operate while the court deliberates.

Source: Canary Media