Saving Seafood

Lawsuit Filings Reveal New Information On Status Of Vineyard Wind Project

January 26, 2026 —  According to several Vineyard Wind executives, if the offshore wind farm isn’t allowed to resume construction, its unfinished turbines could pose a serious health and safety risk.

The turbines that pose the most risk are the so-called “hammerheads,” or turbines that are partially built but have not yet had blades attached. In multiple documents filed as part of its lawsuit seeking a temporary injunction against the federal government’s stop-work order, Vineyard Wind claims that if the company can’t attach the blades soon, they are at risk of catching fire, dumping debris into the ocean, or injuring Vineyard Wind employees.

For some Nantucket residents, this warning may carry uncomfortable echoes of the blade collapse that occurred at Vineyard Wind in August of 2024, sending tons of debris to Nantucket’s shores.

“The risks and impacts associated with hammerheads offshore are as follows: lightning strike, climate control in the Nacelle [head], and structural fatigue,” wind turbine team lead Steven Simkins wrote. “In the event of a [lightning] strike, there is a risk of the electrically powered and charged components in the hub igniting. Any electrical fire has the potential to propagate into the nacelle and cause a larger fire event.”

Read the full article at the Nantucket Current

VIRGINIA: First Towers and Turbines Installing for Virginia Offshore Wind Farm

January 23, 2026 — Just days after a U.S. District Court judge agreed to issue a temporary injunction to let work resume on Virginia’s offshore wind farm, work is underway with the first towers and wind turbines being installed. Dominion Energy’s Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind is the largest project in the United States and is using the only U.S.-built wind turbine installation vessel.

Virginia’s Senator Tim Kaine reported the process on January 21 after having toured the Portsmouth Marine Terminal and received an update on the progress made on the wind farm project. He told local news outlet WAVY, “Number one of 176” had been installed.

The development is being hailed as a milestone on the project, which was expected to generate its first power early this year. It will continue commissioning in 2026 and will reach a rated capacity of 2.6 GW when finished. It is located at least 30 miles east of Virginia Beach.

Read the full article at the Maritime Executive

MASSACHUSETTS: Study Says Offshore Wind Could Impact New Bedford Scallop Industry

January 22, 2026 — Scallops are an important contributor to the success of the New Bedford fishing Industry. Without scallops, the industry as we know it would cease to exist.

“The impact of the species in New Bedford is massive,” NPR reported. “About 80 percent of the seafood, by value, that arrives on the docks here comes from scallops, according to a 2020 report from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Fisheries.”

NPR reported about two-thirds of the 500 or so fishing vessels that fish out of New Bedford “are going out for scallops.”

Read the full article at WBSM

Federal judge rules Dominion Energy can resume construction on Virginia Beach offshore wind farm

January 20, 2026 — A judge in Norfolk on Friday ruled in favor of Dominion Energy, allowing the utility to restart construction on its offshore wind project after the federal government halted it late last year.

The Trump administration cited recently uncovered risks to national security when it issued a 90-day stop-work order on Dec. 22.

But U.S. District Court Judge Jamar Walker said the order, which applied to five wind projects along the East Coast, did not outline how construction on the Virginia project specifically poses a risk to national security.

He said an extended pause on the project would cause irreparable harm to Dominion, which says it’s losing $5 million per day during the stoppage.

Walker granted Dominion a preliminary injunction, which allows the company to resume construction while the case proceeds in court.

The $11 billion Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind project, or CVOW, stretches about 27 to 44 miles off the Virginia Beach Oceanfront. It’s expected to start delivering electricity to the grid soon and finish construction later this year. Dominion already spent $9 billion on the project, which would become the nation’s largest commercial offshore wind farm.

“Our team will now focus on safely restarting work to ensure CVOW begins delivery of critical energy in just weeks,” the utility said in a statement following the ruling. “While our legal challenge proceeds, we will continue seeking a durable resolution of this matter through cooperation with the federal government.”

Read the full article at WHRO

Judge in Virginia Hands Trump 3rd Setback This Week on Wind Farms

January 20, 2026 — President Trump’s efforts to stifle the offshore wind power industry suffered a third legal setback this week, after a federal judge ruled on Friday that an $11.2 billion wind farm off the coast of Virginia can resume construction.

The Interior Department last month ordered all work to stop on the Virginia wind farm and four other offshore wind projects under construction, citing unspecified national security concerns. The developers of the projects have all sued in various courts, arguing that the government failed to justify its actions and that any delays would cause irreparable harm to the companies.

So far, judges have sided with the companies. On Friday, Judge Jamar K. Walker of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia issued a preliminary injunction that would allow the Virginia wind farm to continue construction while its developer, Dominion Energy, pursues its legal case against the stop-work order.

Separate federal judges this week have already issued preliminary injunctions that allowed two other projects — Revolution Wind, off Rhode Island and Empire Wind, off New York — to restart construction.

Read the full article at The New York Times

Trump’s offshore wind blockade suffers a third legal blow

January 20, 2026 — A federal judge on Friday blocked the Interior Department’s order halting construction of an offshore wind project off the coast of Virginia, marking the third time in a week that courts have stepped in to reverse the Trump administration’s anti-wind policies.

Judge Jamar Walker said in a hearing Friday before the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia that the agency failed to provide sufficient reasoning for freezing work on Dominion Energy’s Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind. The Biden-appointed judge issued a preliminary injunction from the bench clearing the way for construction to restart while litigation remains ongoing.

The Dec. 22 order from Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management blocked construction on five offshore wind projects for 90 days along the Eastern Seaboard, citing emerging national security concerns. Along with Dominion Energy’s project, the order halted ongoing work on Empire Wind 1, Sunrise Wind, Revolution Wind and Vineyard Wind 1.

Read the full article at E&E News

Nantucket nonprofit, businesses file lawsuit, alleging offshore wind is crushing their operations

January 20, 2026 — A nonprofit opposed to offshore wind development, a lobster fisherman, and a whale-watching business are suing the federal government, arguing it violated federal law when it approved the construction of Vineyard Wind, a 62-turbine project 15 miles off the coast of Nantucket.

Dan Pronk, a Nantucket lobsterman, does commercial lobstering in the area of the turbines. He told Just the News that the project has decimated his business.

Revolution gets greenlighted 

The Trump administration last month paused offshore wind leases due to concerns about the impact of the project on radar, a national-security issue. Multiple reports from various federal agencies over the past few years have found that the clutter from offshore wind blades and turbines causes interference to radar. This lowers the ability of radar to identify targets on the water, and it creates false targets around the projects.

The lawsuit filed this week by Nantuck-based ACK4Whales and two local businesses argues that when the Department of Interior and other agencies under former President Joe Biden approved the Vineyard Wind project, they ignored the impacts radar disruptions would have on civil aviation and national defense.

In so doing, the lawsuit argues, the Biden-Harris administration violated the Offshore Continental Shelf Lands Act (OCSLA) and the Administrative Procedures Act.

Read the full article at Just The News

Vineyard Wind sues federal government over suspension order

January 16, 2026 — Vineyard Wind sued the federal government on Thursday, asking a federal judge for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction against the suspension order that has frozen construction since late last month. It’s the final offshore wind project to sue of the five that were abruptly halted — two of which have been granted preliminary injunctions by federal judges and allowed to resume construction.

“Vineyard Wind believes the Order violates applicable law and, if not promptly enjoined, will lead to immediate and irreparable harm to the project, and to the communities who will benefit from this critical source of new power for the New England region,” reads a press release from the company.

The 52-page complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts, says Vineyard Wind is incurring $2 million in costs, per day, under the pause.

It’s 95% complete, with all but one of its 62 turbines standing tall above the Atlantic Ocean, several of which have been spinning and sending power to the Massachusetts grid. One turbine tower remains standing at the quayside of the New Bedford Marine Commerce Terminal.

Per the filing, the project needs to finish turbine and blade installation by March 31, at which time its contract with the specialized installation vessel, the Sea Installer, ends. In a declaration, Vineyard Wind CEO Klaus Moeller said installation needs to resume by Jan. 30 in order to get the work completed before the contract ends.

Read the full article at The New Bedford Light

New York’s Empire Wind project to resume as federal judge hands a victory to offshore wind farm developers

January 16, 2026 — A federal judge has cleared the way for a New York offshore wind project to resume construction, a victory for the developer who said a Trump administration order to pause it would likely kill the project in a matter of days.

District Judge Carl J. Nichols, an appointee of President Donald Trump, ruled Thursday that construction on the Empire Wind project could go forward while he considers the merits of the government’s order to suspend the project. He faulted the government for not responding to key points in Empire Wind’s court filings, including the contention that the administration violated proper procedure.

Norwegian company Equinor owns Empire Wind. It’s the second developer to prevail in court against the administration this week.

The Trump administration froze five big offshore wind projects on the East Coast days before Christmas, citing national security concerns. Trump has targeted offshore wind from his first days back in the White House, most recently calling wind farms “losers” that lose money, destroy the landscape and kill birds.

Read the full article at CBS News

Vineyard Wind sues Trump administration for halting construction

January 16, 2026 — The developers behind Vineyard Wind, a large and nearly complete offshore wind farm off the coast of Massachusetts, are suing the Trump administration for halting construction on the project last month.

In a lawsuit filed Thursday in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts, the developers argued the administration acted unlawfully and abused its statutory authority when it suspended the project’s lease, grinding construction to a halt. In a 52-page complaint, the plaintiffs asked the court for a temporary restraining order that would allow the companies to get back to work immediately.

News of the lawsuit immediately drew praise from Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey and Attorney General Andrea Campbell, as well as from environmental advocates.

“Vineyard Wind  is a key part of the region’s efforts to decarbonize and reduce our reliance on fossil fuels,” said Nick Krakoff, a lawyer with the Conservation Law Foundation. “Despite the Trump administration’s efforts to shut down clean, affordable energy options for the region, we’re continuing to see judges reject those efforts.”

Vineyard Wind’s lawsuit comes hours after a federal judge in a separate case ruled that construction could resume on Empire Wind, an offshore wind farm affected by the December order. Earlier this week, yet another judge ruled that construction could resume on Revolution Wind, an offshore wind project off the coast of Connecticut and Rhode Island. Lawsuits are pending for the two other projects affected by the December order: Sunrise Wind and Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind.

Read the full article at wbur