In a setback to Trump’s anti-offshore wind crusade, a federal judge today issued an order granting Dominion Energy’s request for a preliminary injunction allowing construction to resume on the US’s largest wind farm, the 2.6-gigawatt (GW) Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind (CVOW) project.
Judge Jamar Walker of the US District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia has cleared Dominion to restart construction on its $11.2 billion project while the company’s lawsuit against the Trump administration’s Interior Department moves forward.
This marks the third offshore wind project to get a court-ordered green light to resume construction this week – joining Revolution Wind and Empire Wind – while Vineyard Wind in Massachusetts has now gone to court seeking a temporary restraining order and a preliminary injunction.
Dominion Energy was the first to sue the Trump administration after the US Department of the Interior ordered five offshore wind projects currently under construction to stop offshore work on December 22.
The basis of the Trump administration’s claim was that offshore wind turbines could pose “national security risks” based on “recently completed classified reports” because their spinning blades and reflective towers can create radar “clutter” – interference that can generate false targets or mask real ones. The Trump administration has yet to provide any evidence to support its decision that offshore wind poses a security threat in any of the three lawsuits.
CVOW has been under construction since early 2024 and is scheduled to come online in early 2026. Dominion released a statement today that says its “team will now focus on safely restarting work to ensure CVOW begins delivery of critical energy in just weeks.”
The enormous wind farm can provide enough clean energy to power about 660,000 homes. Dominion says it has already spent around $8.9 billion on the $11.2 billion project.
Read more: Federal judge blocks Trump’s Empire Wind shutdown
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