Aberdeen Harbour Board has caused confusion by comments in its annual review which oppose the £150million windfarm in the sea off the city.
An article says the maritime sector is resisting any future planning application for the current site.
However, this stance would be at odds with the news in May that harbour bosses and helicopter firms had dropped safety objections.
Industry body Oil & Gas UK and Aberdeen Harbour Board said then they were satisfied the scheme would not pose a risk after the company behind it agreed to site the 11 turbines away from the city’s port towards Blackdog.
The harbour board’s annual review for 2009 has just been posted out. It says plans to introduce offshore wind turbines near busy shipping lanes were a significant hazard for shipping.
A spokeswoman for the harbour board said yesterday that the review had been printed before the May announcement.
Harbour chief executive Colin Parker added: “The maritime sector has worked with the developer to discuss its concerns around the earlier proposed location of the wind turbine test facility and the impact on navigational safety. We are satisfied that, as a result of these discussions, the latest known footprint of the test facility will lessen any impact the development has on this important area for anchoring and the busy shipping lanes.”
The windfarm is being spearheaded by Aberdeen Renewable Energy Group (AREG) and Swedish utility firm Vattenfall. Morag McCorkindale, AREG’s chief operating officer, said: “The European offshore wind deployment centre has moved on considerably and the welcome support of Aberdeen Harbour Board has been key to this. We look forward to continuing to work with the harbour board on the project – a ground-breaking facility which will accelerate the development of offshore wind power in Scotland, the UK and Europe.”
Recommended for you
