Donald 'Trumped' by Scottish Windfarm

---

Written by Martin Lynch, European News Editor for Industrial Info (Galway, Ireland) - The Scottish government has come under fire from property billionaire Donald Trump, after it granted permission for the development of the European Offshore Wind Deployment Centre (EOWDC) in Aberdeen Bay.

The Centre, which will be Europe's largest planned testing centre for next generation offshore turbines, will have 11 turbines erected and connected to the grid. Located between 2 kilometers (km) and 4.5km from the coast of Aberdeen, they will have a combined generating capacity of up to 100-megawatts (MW) and produce enough power for approximately 49,000 homes.

"Offshore renewables represent a huge opportunity for Scotland; an opportunity to build up new industries and to deliver on our ambitious renewable energy and carbon reduction targets," explained Scotland's Energy, Enterprise and Tourism Minister, Fergus Ewing. "The proposed European Offshore Wind Deployment Centre will give the industry the ability to test and demonstrate new technologies in order to accelerate its growth. The Centre will also generate up to 100 MW, enough electricity to meet the electricity needs of almost half the homes in Aberdeen City. It secures Aberdeen's place as the energy capital of Europe. The Scottish Government is committed to the successful and sustainable development of an offshore wind sector, which could lead to a potential generation of over £7 billion to Scotland's economy and support up to 28,000 direct jobs and a further 20,000 indirect jobs by 2020."

The project has attracted the fury of outspoken property magnate, Trump, who is in the process of constructing a massive hotel, golf and housing development on the nearby Menie Estate in Aberdeen. Following the consent, Trump announced that he was pulling the plug on further investment in the €895 million ($1.17 billion) project and lashed out at Scotland's First Minister, Alex Salmond.

"As dictated by Alex Salmond, a man whose obsession with obsolete wind technology will destroy the magnificence and beauty of Scotland," Trump stated. " 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. All over the world they are being abandoned, but in Scotland they are being built. We will put our future plans in Aberdeen on hold, as will many others, until this ridiculous proposal is defeated. Likewise, we will be bringing a lawsuit within the allocated period of time to stop what will definitely be the destruction of Aberdeen and Scotland itself."

Trump first put a temporary halt on his project at the start of last year in protest to the test centre. For additional information, see January 31, 2012, article - Donald Trump Fails to Block Scottish Windfarm .

Aberdeen Offshore Wind Farm Limited (AOWFL) the group behind the test centre, welcomed the government's decision. Morag McCorkindale, chief operating officer for AREG, said: "This project presents a huge opportunity to help the region diversify its energy-based economy and attract inward investment. The EOWDC places the region at the heart of the development of cutting-edge technologies and innovation to serve UK Round 3 offshore wind developments and is anticipated to become a chief centre of European importance".

Industrial Info Resources (IIR), with global headquarters in Sugar Land, Texas, and eight offices outside of North America, is the leading provider of global market intelligence specializing in the industrial process, heavy manufacturing and energy markets. Industrial Info's quality-assurance philosophy, the Living Forward Reporting Principle™, provides up-to-the-minute intelligence on what's happening now, while constantly keeping track of future opportunities.