Orsted shares jump as US judge lifts block on key windfarm

(Sharecast News) - Shares in Orsted surged on Tuesday as the Danish renewables company won a victory against the Trump administration after a US judge said it could resume work on its $5bn wind farm project off Rhode Island.

Trump put a stop to five major offshore wind developments at the end of last year, including Orsted's, citing unspecified national security concerns identified by the Pentagon.

Revolution Wind, Orsted's 50-50 joint venture with Global Infrastructure Partners' Skyborn Renewables, on Monday won its request to the US District Court of Columbia for a preliminary injunction blocking the suspension. Shares in the firm were up 6% in early trade.

Orsted has also sued on behalf of its Sunrise Wind project off the coast of New York.

"The project will resume construction work as soon as possible, with safety as the top priority," the company said in a statement, adding that Revolution Wind would now determine how best "to work with the US administration to achieve an expeditious and durable resolution".

In a hearing on Monday, US District Judge Royce Lamberth said the Court should be "very skeptical of the government's true motives" for putting a stop to the project.

"You want to stop everything in place, costing them one-and-a-half million a day, while you decide what you want to do?" Lamberth asked Justice Department attorney Peter Torstensen.

Reporting by Frank Prenesti for Sharecast.com