Supreme Court says Offshore Windfarm 'Trumps' Golf

Repeatedly courting controversy Donald Trump sparked outrage last year when he compared the development of wind farms in Scotland to the Lockerbie disaster.  This was after just losing his last legal challenge against the Scottish Government’s decision to give the go-ahead to the offshore wind farm in Aberdeen Bay. He also threatened to turn his back on Scotland. In an  interview with the Irish Times, Donald Trump reportedly told stated “Wind farms are a disaster for Scotland, like Pan Am 103. They make people sick with the continuous noise. They’re an abomination and are only sustained with government subsidy.”

This was a reference to a disaster where  259 passengers and crew on board Pan Am Flight 103 and 11 residents were killed when a Boeing 747 exploded and crashed into the village of Lockerbie, (in Dumfries and Galloway) on 21 December, 1988, due to a terrorist bomb.

European Offshore Wind Deployment Centre

In 2011, Aberdeen Offshore Wind Farm Ltd applied for consent to construct and operate the European Offshore Wind Deployment Centre in Aberdeen Bay. The project, jointly owned by Vattenfall and Aberdeen Renewables Energy Group, would see the construction of up to 11 wind turbines. The Project with a maximum power generation of 100 MW would be located about 3.5km from the golf resort and would be seen by people at the resort.

Trump opposed the wind farm stating that the project would 'spoil the view' from his golf resort and has appealed to UK Supreme Court against an earlier Scottish ruling that confirmed ministerial consent for the wind farm

Trump International Golf Club challenged the Consent on various grounds claiming:

1.        Scottish Ministers had no power (under the 1989 Act) to grant consent to the wind farm application.

2.      Section 14 of the Consent, which requires the submission and approval of a design statement, should be void due to uncertainties.

The Supreme Court 'unanimously' dismissed the appeal by Trump International Golf Club and has hopefully settled a conflict between Trump and the offshore wind developers which began more than two years ago with arguments raised twice in the Scottish Courts. The US billionaire is well known for his eccentric views and has made every attempt possible to quash the EOWDC development.

Andy Paine, Project Director for AOWFL, welcomed today’s Supreme Court decision: “This is another significant step forward for theEOWDC. It affirms the scheme’s potential to position Scotland, and particularly the North-east, as a centre of innovative offshore wind power. The project partners remain committed to seeing the EOWDC come to fruition and delivering long-term economic benefits to the region.”

Aberdeen City Council has been working closely with EOWDC project partner, AREG, and has a long standing commitment to the development.

Council Leader, Councillor Jenny Laing said: “We welcome the Supreme Court ruling regarding the EOWDC which is a project with enormous potential for Aberdeen and the wider north-east region.

“Both Aberdeen City and Aberdeenshire councils are today approving a Regional Economic Strategy which outlines a ‘Renaissance’ scenario for the local economy in the next 20 years, in which we maximise the recovery of remaining oil and gas reserves from the UK Continental Shelf while diversifying into other sectors including renewables, tourism, food and drink, agriculture and life sciences.

“The EOWDC is an example of the type of development that could help to deliver significant and long-term economic benefits to the region and help to cement Aberdeen’s reputation as a global energy city and a world-leading centre for innovation. This is why the EOWDC has been a long-standing priority for AREG and this council.”

Over 12 months, the project developers stated that the plant would be capable of yielding, on average, enough clean, green electricity to power the equivalent of more than 68,000 UK households.

The EOWDC is heralded by local government as "important to building Scotland’s future energy infrastructure".  The project has also received a  European Union grant of up to €40million funding under the €4billion European Economic Programme for Recovery.

A spokesman for the Trump organisation has recently been seen on national media stating that the TIGC will continue their efforts to oppose the development "on every front possible".

For more information about the EOWDC please follow the links provided which will take you to our Offshore Wind Farms Database. You can also view the project on our interactive map.