The United States Department of the Interior announced that it is pausing the leases for five large-scale offshore wind projects under construction due to national security risks identified by the Department of War in recently completed classified reports, the Department said in a statement.

The statement said that this pause will give the Department, along with the Department of War and other relevant government agencies, time to work with leaseholders and state partners to assess the possibility of mitigating the national security risks posed by these projects.