Orsted Shares Jump as U.S. Judge Rules Work Can Resume at Revolution Wind Project

By Dominic Chopping

Orsted shares jumped Tuesday after a U.S. judge ruled that work could resume at the company's Revolution Wind project off the coast of Rhode Island.

Shares were 5.5% higher in early European trade.

The Trump administration had ordered a halt to construction of five U.S. offshore wind projects just before Christmas, citing national security risks. The order, issued by the Department of the Interior's Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, affected Orsted's Revolution Wind and Sunrise Wind projects.

In a statement late Monday, the Danish renewable energy company said a judge had granted a preliminary injunction that allows the Revolution Wind project to restart immediately, while underlying lawsuits challenging the orders progress.

"This is great news for Orsted, and also gives justified hope that the construction halt on Sunrise Wind will be lifted soon," Sydbank's head of equity research Jacob Pedersen said.

Revolution Wind is about 87% complete and is expected to start generating power this year.

The project faced a similar stop-work order from U.S. officials last year, before a judge later ruled that work could restart.

With a few more weeks of work, the project can deliver first electricity, and once that happens it will make considerably less sense for the Trump administration to introduce more obstacles, Pedersen said.

"This could mean a less difficult path toward completion for Revolution Wind, although the past year has taught us that you should never say never when it comes to the Trump administration's attempts to derail offshore wind projects."

Orsted has previously disclosed that the construction halt would cost the project at least $1.44 million a day, so assuming work restarts Tuesday, that could imply an impact of around $16.5 million for Orsted's 50% share of the project, analysts at Jefferies said.

The bank notes that the suspension order remains in place for Sunrise Wind, and Orsted filed for a preliminary injunction on the project six days after Revolution Wind's filing.

"Hence, we would expect a court date to come soon," Jefferies said.

Orsted has indicated over $1 million a day of cost impact from the suspension at Sunrise Wind, the bank added.

Write to Dominic Chopping at dominic.chopping@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

January 13, 2026 04:25 ET (09:25 GMT)