The Scottish government approved a plan to build a wind farm off the coast of Aberdeen that was opposed by billionaire New York investor Donald Trump because it’s in sight of his championship golf course.
The European Offshore Wind Deployment Centre, a venture between Vattenfall AB, Technip SA and Aberdeen Renewable Energy Group, will be allowed to build 11 wind turbines capable of generating enough power for more than 49,000 homes, the government said today in a statement. The project will cost more than 230 million pounds ($349 million), according to the companies.
“The Scottish government is committed to the successful and sustainable development of an offshore wind sector,” Fergus Ewing, energy, enterprise and tourism minister, said in the statement. The industry may contribute more than 7 billion pounds to Scotland’s economy and support as many as 28,000 direct jobs and an additional 20,000 indirect jobs by 2020, the government said.
Trump has been in conflict with Alex Salmond for more than a year over the Scottish First Minister’s flagship policy of making the country the hub of European wind power by generating all of its electricity from renewable sources by 2020. Trump would fight any approval of the wind farm in the courts for years, George Sorial, the executive in charge of developing a resort around his Scottish golf course, said in a Feb. 12 interview.
Trump deferred a plan to build a five-star hotel, 500 homes and 950 rental apartments at the 750 million-pound resort until a decision on the energy project had been announced.
The Trump Organization didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
Aberdeen Offshore Wind Farm will build a wind-testing center off Aberdeen to enable developers to study their technologies at sea before commercial deployment, enabling them to reduce development risks and capital costs, according to the statement. The new wind turbines will be capable of producing as much as 100 megawatts, enough to meet the needs of almost half the homes in the city of Aberdeen.