Revolution Wind Hits Full Power, Becoming Third US Offshore Wind Farm Online

Revolution Wind is officially spinning at full tilt. Ørsted said Thursday that its 704-megawatt wind farm off Connecticut and Rhode Island started generating up to its full capacity in October, capping a buildout that saw the last of 65 turbines installed in September. The project cost $6.2 billion.

That makes Revolution Wind the third US utility-scale offshore wind farm to reach full commercial operations, following South Fork Wind near New York and Vineyard Wind near Massachusetts. According to Ørsted, the farm will produce enough electricity for the equivalent of more than 350,000 New England homes, with the carbon-free power sold to Rhode Island Energy, Eversource Energy, and United Illuminating.

The milestone lands despite a bruising fight with the Trump administration. The Interior Department slapped Revolution Wind with a stop-work order in August 2025 over unspecified national security threats; a federal judge tossed it a month later. In late December, the administration issued fresh stop-work orders to all five offshore wind projects then under construction. Judges struck those down one by one, but not before developers burned through huge sums and edged dangerously close to missing deadlines.

Revolution Wind isn't entirely clear of the crosshairs. In October, Interior asked a federal court for permission to reevaluate the agency's 2023 approval of the project's construction and operations plan. That move didn't immediately disrupt operations, but experts say it injects uncertainty into an installation that's now fully running.

The political headwinds have reshaped the industry's trajectory. Before Trump's second term began, BloombergNEF expected the US to build 39 gigawatts of offshore wind by 2035. It now forecasts just 5.9 GW, reflecting only the projects already finished or under construction when last year started. Even so, experts say the completed farms are helping hold down household utility bills in the Northeast and easing grid strain during extreme weather.

Hillary Bright, executive director of offshore wind advocacy group Turn Forward, called the project an essential boost in a Thursday statement, saying it delivers a substantial new source of generation, diversifies supply, and strengthens electric reliability for decades. Meanwhile, Ørsted said it finished installing all turbine foundations for Sunrise Wind, a 924-MW project off Long Island, New York, that's expected to be fully operational in the second half of next year.