World’s most powerful wind turbine built after Donald Trump loses legal battle

President Trump won’t be happy. Scotland is fast becoming the go-to destination for offshore wind innovation, and the project he spent so long opposing is leading the way.

The first of 11 huge wind turbines has this week been installed by Swedish developer Vattenfall off the Aberdeen coast.

The wind farm is located about 1.5 miles from shore and fully visible from a nearby golf course built by the US President in Balmedie.

And two of the machines being constructed have been upgraded to 8.8 megawatts, the first time this has ever been used by the offshore wind industry.

The innovation means that just one rotation of its blades will be able to power the average UK home for an entire day. The newly installed turbine now reaches 190 metres into the air at its very tip, twice the height of Big Ben in London. 

Mr Trump spent years in both Scottish and UK courts seeking to scupper the project. After losing his final appeal at the UK Supreme Court in December 2015, the project went ahead with construction.

Once complete the project will have an installed capacity of 93.2MW, and be able to provide over 70 percent of Aberdeen’s domestic electricity demand, according to Vattenfall. It will also be able to displace over 134,000 tonnes of CO2.

The wind farm, made possible by funding from the European Union, is officially called the European Offshore Wind Deployment Centre (EOWDC).

Vattenfall’s project director, Adam Ezzamel, commented: “The first turbine installation is a significant achievement and credit to the diligence and engineering know-how of the project team and contractors. For it to be one of the 8.8MW models makes it an even more momentous moment because it further endorses the EOWDC as a world-class hub of offshore wind innovation.”

Jean Morrison, Chair of Aberdeen Renewable Energy Group (AREG), said the wind farm is “leading the way in terms of innovation for the offshore wind sector and will help enable the next generation of offshore wind”.

“It’s a real coup for the region to have the world’s most powerful turbines on its doorstep and cements Aberdeen’s position as a major global energy city. It also will lead us to a greener future,” she added.

The news closely follows the successful launch of the first floating offshore wind farm, also in Aberdeenshire, but further from shore.

                   Time lapse footage of the turbine being installed in Scottish waters