"Today's announcement targets those and three other projects. Interior says it is pausing the permits for all five, which are the only projects currently under construction. It claims that offshore wind creates "national security risks" that were revealed in a recent analysis performed by the Department of Defense, which apparently neglected to identify these issues during the evaluations it did while the projects were first permitted."
"What are these risks? The Interior Department is being extremely coy. It notes that offshore wind turbines can interfere with radar sensing, but that's been known for a while. In announcing the decision, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum also noted "the rapid evolution of the relevant adversary technologies." But the announcement says that the Defense Department analysis is classified, meaning nobody is likely to know what the actual reason is-presuming one exists."
The Interior Department paused permits for five offshore wind projects, which are the only projects currently under construction. The department claims that offshore wind creates national-security risks revealed in a Department of Defense analysis that is now classified. The classification will likely prevent public disclosure of the specific risks and make legal challenges more difficult. The department notes that offshore turbines can interfere with radar sensing and cites the rapid evolution of relevant adversary technologies. The five blocked projects include Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind (2.6 GW, land-based facilities and in-water base complete), Empire Wind (810 MW, early construction), Revolution Wind (700 MW, 80 percent complete after a court-ordered restart), and Sunrise Wind (925 MW).
Read at Ars Technica
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