The Trump administration’s decision to halt construction of Equinor’s Empire Wind 1 farm off the coast of New York late on Wednesday sent shockwaves through the offshore wind industry, raising concerns that fully-permitted developments representing billions in investment are not safe.

Donald Trump’s Interior Secretary Doug Burgum has ordered the Equinor project to cease construction work, suggesting the project’s underlying environmental analysis was faulty, Reuters reported.

The halt is a major blow to the US wind industry, which was championed by former President Joe Biden – but has been targeted heavily by President Trump.

“Stopping work on the fully federally permitted Empire Wind 1 offshore project should send chills across all industries investing in and holding contracts with the United States Government,” said Liz Burdock, the CEO of industry group Oceantic Network, after Burgum’s order.

“Preventing a permitted and financed energy project from moving forward sends a loud and clear message to all businesses – beyond those in the offshore wind industry – that their investment in the U.S. is not safe.”, Burdock continued.

Equinor, the Norwegian company that is leading the Empire Wind project, said in a statement: “We have decided to stop offshore construction of the project following the order.”

“We will engage with the administration to find out why the order was issued after we had received all the permits previously.” Equinor then put out a full statement regarding the halt instruction.

Equinor acquired a lease of the site from the federal government in 2017 and, according to its website, the project was set to deliver 810 MW of energy into Brooklyn, powering 500,000 homes, the BBC reported.