US asks federal court to cancel permit for Maryland offshore wind farm

By Nichola Groom

Sept 12 (Reuters) - The Trump administration asked a federal judge to cancel the 2024 approval of a wind farm off the coast of Maryland, saying former U.S. 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 Friday.

If approved by the court, the motion would invalidate a years-long federal process that permitted US Wind's Maryland Offshore Wind Project. The facility was expected to generate enough electricity to power 718,000 homes at a time of soaring U.S. demand.

The action is the latest in a series of moves the Trump administration has made to stymie development of offshore wind and other clean energy facilities.

Attorneys for the Interior Department filed the motion in U.S. 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.

Ocean City officials were not immediately available for comment. In its 2024 complaint, the city alleged the project would threaten its tourism and fishing industries.

In justifying its motion, the administration said 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 That interpretation was withdrawn by Trump Interior Department attorneys this year.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 it would defend the project's permits in court.

"After many years of analysis, several federal agencies issued final permits to the project," 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."

US Wind is a subsidiary of Renexia SpA, the renewable development arm of Italian infrastructure firm Toto Holding.