Sturgeon opens Trump row wind farm
Sturgeon says opening of facility is ‘a proud day for Scotland’
The First Minister aboard a ferry as she officially opened the European Offshore Wind Deployment Centre off the coast of Aberdeen, containing 11 of the most powerful turbines in the world, which Donald Trump tried to block because of their proximity to his Menie golf links.
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said she hoped Donald Trump would “change his mind” over the offshore wind farm visible from his North-east golf course, given the benefits now being generated by the green energy development.
Ms Sturgeon was on board the ship that sailed out of Aberdeen for the official opening of the European Offshore Wind Deployment Centre (EOWDC), which is made up of 11 of the most powerful turbines in the world. A single rotation of a blade can generate enough electricity to power a home for a day.
The £300 million development is already exporting the equivalent of 70 per cent of Aberdeen’s domestic electricity demand to the National Grid, and has the capacity to meet the energy needs of 80,000 homes a year.
Mr Trump made three legal attempts to block the development of the offshore wind farm, which sits 1.5 miles off the coast of Aberdeen and is visible from the Trump International Golf Links at Menie.
The long bitter row over the development ended up in the UK Supreme Court with Mr Trump branding the development by Swedish firm Vattenfall as an “act of public vandalism”.
Ms Sturgeon said the official opening of the wind farm was “a proud day for Scotland” and underlined the country’s reputation as a world leader in renewables and particularly offshore wind power.
Asked if she had a message for Mr Trump, she said: “Well, I think maybe on his next trip to Scotland he will come and see this fantastic development and change his mind.
“This is important for renewable energy and its an asset to Aberdeen and Scotland for a whole variety of other reasons as well.
“Maybe we can yet persuade the president that this is a fantastic development.”
Ms Sturgeon added: “It’s had it hurdles and it’s had its opponents. But I hope that the beauty of what we are seeing today will in time be capable of persuading even the sternest of critics.”
The offshore wind farm in Aberdeen Bay, which was first raised as a possibility back in 2003, will produce green electricity as well as test the latest technology for the offshore renewables industry. It is set to produce 312 gigawatts of clean energy a year, enough to supply the equivalent of just under 80,000 homes.
The EOWDC has deployed several innovations, including the use of “suction bucket jacket foundations” to fix the turbines to the sea bed.
The suction buckets – which weigh 1,800 tonnes – fix the turbines in place using water pressure instead of hammering them to the sea bed in an effort to reduce the risk to marine life.
“I hope that the beauty of what we are seeing today will in time be capable of persuading even the sternest of critics” NICOLA STURGEON
When Donald Trump complained all the way to the UK Supreme Court that the view from his links golf course in Aberdeenshire would be spoiled by wind turbines one-and-a-half miles out to sea, he appears to have done so without any sense of irony at all.
If such vistas were sacred, then the future president would not have allowed his business to build a 15ft earth wall obscuring the sea view of David and Moira Milne, after they refused to sell their home to become part of Trump International Golf Links. The Milnes responded by flying the Mexican flag.
At yesterday’s inauguration ceremony for the European Offshore Wind Deployment Centre – which includes the world’s most powerful turbines – First Minister Nicola Sturgeon offered another rejoinder to Trump without actually naming him. The “beauty” of the wind farm would surely win over even the “sternest critic”, she quipped, tongue firmly in cheek.
The 11 turbines, which began generating electricity in July, are expected to produce enough energy to power the equivalent of nearly 80,000 homes a year. The First Minister said the centre, designed to test new technology, would help secure Scotland’s place as a “world leader in renewable energy generally, but in offshore wind in particular”.
And there are good reasons for her optimism. The North Sea oil industry means Scotland has a wealth of expertise in heavy engineering at sea, always a challenging environment. And Scotland also has a quarter of all the offshore wind resource in Europe.
The UK government has taken considerable flak from environmentalists for discouraging onshore wind farms. But part of the reason for fostering offshore wind instead has been the chance to take a lead in a burgeoning global industry, having largely missed out on the onshore revolution with companies in countries like Denmark and Germany stealing a march. And Scotland is by far the best place in the UK for the offshore wind energy industry to flourish. Holyrood and Westminster need to recognise it is in their mutual interest to work together to make this dream a reality for the good of us all.
Except, of course, Mr Trump – but he may be pre-occupied by other issues, not least ruining the views of Californians, Texans and Mexicans with another, rather bigger, wall.
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