Jan 15 (Reuters) - A federal judge on Thursday cleared Norwegian offshore wind developer Equinor to resume work on its New York Empire Wind project, which President Donald Trump's administration halted along with four other projects last month.
The ruling by U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols is the second legal setback for Trump's offshore wind policy this week, after a judge in the same court on Monday ruled Danish energy company Orsted could restart work on a project off the coast of Rhode Island.
Trump has spent the last year seeking to block expansion of offshore wind in federal waters. He has repeatedly said he considers the technology expensive, unreliable and ugly.
Government attorneys had argued the December 22 halt by the Interior Department was justified by new, classified information regarding offshore wind's impact on national security.
But Nichols said the government's national security concerns did not outweigh the "irreparable harm" Empire Wind would suffer if the Trump order is not paused.
The order "threatens Empire Wind's entire existence," Nichols said, by limiting its access to rare vessels it needs to finish the project.
The order gives Equinor what could be a temporary reprieve to continue work on Empire Wind. Nichols said the Trump order was paused while he considers the merits of the underlying lawsuit on an "expedited basis."
"Empire Wind will now focus on safely restarting construction activities that were halted during the suspension period," Equinor said in a statement. "In addition, the project will continue to engage with the U.S. government to ensure the safe, secure and responsible execution of its operations."
The Interior Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
(Reporting by Blake Brittain in Washington and Nichola Groom in Los AngelesEditing by Rod Nickel)
