Trump loses fight against Scottish windfarm: Ministers approve ?230m experimental project Tycoon thr

Scottish ministers have given the go-ahead to an experimental offshore windfarm site near Aberdeen after ignoring billionaire property magnate Donald Trump's threats of legal action to block the project.

Trump has repeatedly attacked the European offshore wind deployment centre (EOWDC) proposal, alleging that the turbines will ruin the view from his £750m golf resort.

Trump again threatened to use his financial muscle to oppose the 11-turbine project in the courts using "every legal means" to defeat it. Despite recently announcing plans to build a second 18-hole course, he repeated his threat to put his entire project on hold because the windfarm threatened the financial viability of his resort.

Fergus Ewing, the Scottish energy minister, said the £230m project would be capable of generating up to 100MW of power, enough for nearly half the homes in Aberdeen. But he added that the project was chiefly designed to test and evaluate advanced offshore wind power designs to discover breakthrough technologies. Scottish and UK ministers, who also support the project, believe it could be crucial to helping the UK exploit the £100bn offshore wind industry.

In a statement, the developer attacked his former friend and ally Alex Salmond, the first minister. "This was a purely political decision," Trump said.

"As dictated by Alex Salmond, a man whose obsession with obsolete wind technology will destroy the magnificence and beauty of Scotland. Likewise, tourism, Scotland's biggest industry, will be ruined. We will spend whatever monies are necessary to see to it that these huge and unsightly industrial wind turbines are never constructed."

Trump then tweeted on the subject yesterday, saying: "The Scottish windfarm was conceived by the same mind that released terrorist al-Megrahi (the Lockerbie bomber) for humanitarian reasons."

The 11 turbines are expected to be of different heights and designs. The project, owned by Swedish energy group Vattenfall and a Scottish business and university consortium, still needs marine and planning consent for an onshore substation. The scheme has been made subject to a series of fresh conditions on environmental management and to protect shipping, fishing and defence and civil aviation radar systems, as well as to avoid a military firing range at Black Dog.

Trump's attacks on Salmond's vigorous support for wind power have put the two men in direct conflict and also soured Trump's relationships with some of his most influential supporters in Aberdeen.

Several figures and institutions who supported Trump's resort - North Sea engineering millionaire Sir Ian Wood, Robert Gordon University and Aberdeenshire council - are also directly involved in the EOWDC project.

They believe it could substantially support Aberdeen's attempts to benefit from the billions of pounds being spent on renewable energy, particularly as an alternative to North Sea oil and gas.

Iain Todd, a spokesman for the project, made this clear, stating: "The Scottish government's most welcome approval for the EOWDC is extremely positive news for the UK's offshore wind industry as it helps position Scotland, the UK and Europe at the global vanguard of the sector."
 

From The Guardian