EnergyOMNI's Perspectives｜The Trump Administration Cites National Security And Frozen The Review Process For 165 Onshore Wind Projects

Edited by EnergyOMNI

According to a report by the Financial Times, citing the American Clean Power Association and other sources, the Trump administration has frozen the administrative review process for 165 onshore wind projects since taking office, affecting a total installed capacity of 30 GW.

Large wind power projects in the United States must undergo joint reviews by the Department of Defense and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to ensure that turbines do not interfere with radar systems or flight routes. Federal law requires any structure 200 feet or taller, including wind turbines, to be reviewed first by the FAA, then the military.

The report noted that since August 2025, meetings between wind developers and government agencies have been canceled or project applications have not been accepted, including projects that were close to approval as well as those still under review.

The Department of Defense stated publicly that it is reviewing the potential national security impacts of these projects, arguing that wind power "has the inherent potential to adversely affect or damage military testing, training, and operations," while also emphasizing that the review process itself is complex and time-consuming.

This is not the first time the Trump administration has suspended wind power projects on the basis of "national security." Several offshore wind projects have also been affected. On August 13, 2025, the Department of Commerce launched a national security investigation into imported wind turbines and key components under national security authorities. Then, in a report completed on December 22, the Department of Defense raised concerns about the "national security risks" of offshore wind development. Subsequently, the Department of the Interior announced an immediate suspension of all leasing activities for large offshore wind projects under construction in U.S. waters and specifically identified five projects already under construction.

Among them was the Empire Wind 1 project developed by Equinor. In April 2025, the Department of the Interior had already ordered the project to halt construction, citing the need to address comments related to the project's environmental analysis. In December, the project was again ordered to stop work, at which point construction was nearly 60% complete.

Another affected project was Revolution Wind, jointly developed by Ørsted and Skyborn Renewables, a subsidiary of Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP). In April 2025, the Department of the Interior also issued a stop-work order for the project when it was nearly 80% complete. In December, the project once again faced suspension orders. Developers of the targeted projects subsequently filed lawsuits, and courts gradually issued preliminary injunctions against the federal government's policies in January and February, allowing construction activities to resume.

CleanTechnica pointed out that since 2011, when the Department of Defense began reviewing energy projects to ensure there were no direct conflicts with military facilities, only one out of thousands of projects reviewed had been found to pose an unacceptable national security risk. Critics argue that if the Trump administration intends to freeze hundreds of projects on these grounds, it should clearly identify the specific impacts involved rather than responding with silence, canceled meetings, and vague claims.

According to the American Clean Power Association's annual market report, investment in new clean energy projects in the United States reached US$79 billion in 2025, creating more than 1.4 million jobs. Clean energy accounted for more than 90% of newly added power generation capacity on the U.S. grid, with more than 50 GW of new capacity added. In addition, these clean energy projects span all 50 states, and 79% of installed clean energy capacity is located in Republican congressional districts.

Jason Grumet, CEO of ACP, said there has never been anything remotely comparable to a backlog of this size or a near-systemwide halt in transmittals back to FAA. If the projects remain stalled, it would dramatically obstruct the industry at a time when the power is needed to meet skyrocketing demand and help lower utility bills.