Donald Trump has vowed to continue fighting the windfarm development off the coast from his Aberdeenshire golf course, branding the project an act of “public vandalism”.
The US presidential candidate returned to the fray after Swedish energy company Vattenfall confirmed on Thursday that it is going ahead with its £300m investment, despite last month’s EU referendum vote.
The offshore windfarm has been dogged by years of bitter legal wrangles between Trump and the Scottish government over its impact on his golf course, which the tycoon ultimately lost in the courts last year.
A spokesperson for the Trump Organization insisted that several of planning conditions associated with the project had yet to be fully satisfied. They said that the New York-based billionaire would be lodging formal objections with Marine Scotland, as well as pursuing additional remedies before the European courts if necessary.
Vattenfall said on Thursday that it had all the planning consents in place for the development.
The 11 turbines in the development will send clean energy back to the grid, but will also be a key testing ground for reducing the cost of the technology, which is around twice as expensive as land turbines.
But Trump has long argued that the technology has become outdated due to the length of time taken to reach an agreement on the scheme. The spokesperson added: “We remind those who care about this coastline that the European Offshore Wind Deployment Centre (EOWDC) was promoted as an experimental test station, and after more than 10 years of floundering through the planning process, the technology behind the scheme is exceptionally outdated.
“The gross incompetence demonstrated by Aberdeen city council officials is disturbing and they have failed to protect the safety and best interests of their residents, which will become their tragic legacy should the EOWDC proceed.”
