He's back: How these turbines sparked Trump’s hatred for wind
President due to return to site of battle between Aberdeen Bay project and his Scottish golf course that many believe was cause of his enmity to wind
If younger members of the offshore wind industry ever wonder exactly how it earned Donald Trump’s undying enmity, the answer will over the next few days be staring the US president in the face.
Trump is due tomorrow to make a private trip to Scotland that will include a visit to his shoreside golf club at Menie near Aberdeen.
He may want to avert his gaze, but sitting offshore he will see the 11 turbines of the Aberdeen Bay Wind Farm that many believe are the root cause of Trump’s hatred for all things wind energy, leading him to launch a devastating policy assault on the US industry on day one of his latest term.
The now two-time president was a humble property billionaire back in 2006 when he first raised concerns over plans for the European Offshore Wind Deployment Centre, as Aberdeen Bay is also known, which Sweden’s Vattenfall envisaged as a showcase for the latest technologies in the industry.
Trump was furious at what he saw as the impact of the turbines on the experience of those playing his course and the Trump Organisation from 2011 began a years-long, expensive and ultimately unsuccessful legal battle against the Scottish government’s consent for Aberdeen Bay.
Memorable quotes from Trump v Aberdeen Bay wind
“At the end of five years you will have to replace every one of these windmills, because they are going to rot to hell in the North Sea" - in 2025 the turbines are still going strong.
“I have built a masterpiece. I don't want to see it destroyed by windmills. Windmills are going to be the death of Scotland and even England if they don't do something about them." - Scotland and England miraculously survive, and Trump's golf course is even expanding.
“Wind turbines made in China” will “destroy” Scotland’s tourism industry. The Aberdeen Bay turbines were made in Denmark by Vestas. Scotland continues to manage to attract tourists.
“I have been told by our attorneys, that we can bring a very large lawsuit and probably win the lawsuit based on the harm that these horrible things will do to Scotland." Trump ultimately lost the case.
He announced a mission to stop the turbines, “save Scotland and honour my mother, Mary MacLeod, who, as you know, was born and raised in Stornoway. She would not believe what you are doing to her beloved Scotland.”
Unfortunately for Trump, the UK court system backed Vattenfall and just before Christmas 2016 the Supreme Court declared the end of the road for his challenge.
The UK’s wind industry continues to feel Trump’s wrath – he has several times urged current Prime Minister Keir Starmer to ditch the “windmills”. But it is in his American home waters that the legacy of the President’s golf club defeat by offshore wind has been most keenly felt.
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