Empire Wind first power slips to H1 2027 as Jones Act feeder vessels run late

Equinor has pushed first power at its $7.5bn Empire Wind offshore wind project to the first half of 2027, blaming delays in the US-built feeder vessels that must shuttle turbine parts from Brooklyn to the installation ship Maersk Viridis.

The Norwegian energy major disclosed the revised schedule in its third-quarter results presentation. Chief financial officer Torgrim Reitan confirmed the 810MW development off New York is roughly 80% complete. What's left is mostly the turbines.

The campaign to install the project's 54 Vestas 15MW machines should now begin early next year, several months later than planned. The bottleneck sits in the shipyard, not the wind farm.

What exactly is delayed?

The hold-up concerns specialised tugs and barges under construction in the US. Their job: move turbine components from the South Brooklyn Marine Terminal out to Maersk Viridis, the wind turbine installation vessel that will lift them into place.

Edison Chouest Offshore is developing two sets of articulated tugs and barges for the job, with the hulls built by Bollinger Shipyards. That yard, of course, is the same Louisiana shipbuilder whose recent US Coast Guard contracts have kept its order book full.

Maersk Viridis arrived off Mississippi in August for testing and preparations. But the feeder vessels it depends on have slipped, and the offshore installation schedule slipped with them.

The logistics set-up is unusual, and worth unpacking. Seatrium delivered Maersk Viridis in Singapore earlier this year. The vessel carries a purpose-built docking system that lets feeder barges transfer turbine components directly onto it while it stays offshore, rather than returning to port each time.

Why go to that trouble? The Jones Act. The century-old law restricts maritime transportation between US points to qualifying US-flagged, US-built vessels. A foreign-built installation ship can work the site, but the shuttle run from Brooklyn to the wind farm must fly the American flag. Hence US-built tugs and barges, and hence the schedule's exposure to American shipyard capacity.

What does this change for the money?

Not much, says Equinor. The company stated the revised timetable will not change the project's overall capital expenditure, which stands at approximately $7.5bn, although some spending will shift into 2027.

On tax, Equinor expects to keep roughly $2.5bn in US investment tax credits. About $2bn should be monetised in 2027, with the remainder following in 2028. That phasing matters for the group's cash flow, but the relief itself survives the delay.

How far along is the project?

Physically, quite far:

• All 54 turbine foundations are installed
• The offshore substation is complete
• The offshore cable works are finished

The remaining scope is dominated by the turbine installation campaign, which is precisely the part waiting on the Bollinger-built feeder fleet.

A familiar pattern of setbacks

This is not Empire Wind's first stumble. The project absorbed two federal stop-work orders issued by the Trump administration in 2025, both of which Equinor managed to overturn, securing relief that allowed construction to continue.

So the Jones Act feeder delay lands on top of an already battle-tested permitting record. That history explains why Equinor framed the new schedule as a logistics issue rather than a regulatory one, and why the capex and tax credit numbers stayed unchanged.

For New York, the stakes are concrete. Empire Wind sits south of Long Island and will deliver electricity directly into New York City's grid through Brooklyn once operational, generating enough power for roughly 500,000 homes.

City power buyers will simply wait longer for it. Assuming the feeder vessels deliver on their revised timeline, turbine installation starts early next year and first power follows in the first half of 2027, with the $2bn tax credit monetisation arriving alongside it.