Trump administration seeks to quash Maryland Offshore Wind Project

The Trump administration has asked a federal judge to cancel the 2024 approval of a wind farm off the coast of Maryland, saying that former US President Joe Biden’s administration had underestimated threats it would cause to search and rescue operations and commercial fisheries, according to court documents filed on Sept. 12.

If approved by the court, the motion would invalidate a years-long federal process that permitted US Wind’s Maryland Offshore Wind Project. 

The wind farm would be sited in federal waters approximately 10-11 nautical miles off the coast of Ocean City, Maryland. The project, which has received federal approval and is in the construction and operations planning phase, called for the use of up to 121 wind turbines to generate over 2 gigawatts (GW) of power.

The action is the latest in a series of moves the Trump administration has made to halt the development of offshore wind energy projects.

Attorneys for the Interior Department filed the motion in US District Court in Maryland in a lawsuit brought by the mayor and city council of Ocean City, Maryland, that challenged the agency’s approval of the US Wind project. In its 2024 complaint, Ocean City alleged that the project would threaten its tourism and fishing industries.

In justifying its motion, the administration said that the project’s approval had relied on a Biden-era legal interpretation of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act that gave the government broad discretion in managing multiple activities in federal waters. That interpretation was withdrawn by Trump Interior Department attorneys this year.

US Wind said that it would defend the project’s permits in court. Phase 1 of the project is expected to be in service in 2029, while Phases 2, 3, and 4 have an anticipated commercial operation date the following year, in December 2030. 

“After many years of analysis, several federal agencies issued final permits to the project,” US Wind spokesperson Nancy Sopko said in a statement. “We intend to vigorously defend those permits in federal court, and we are confident that the court will uphold their validity and prevent any adverse action against them.”