Donald Trump has been encouraged to invest some of his fortune in Scotland’s renewable energy industry.
The businessman has been told he should consider being part of the nation’s “success story”, a sector the SNP say could re-industrialise the nation.
Niall Stuart, chief executive of trade body Scottish Renewables, made the suggestion in a letter to Mr Trump as part of an attempt to persuade the businessman to drop his opposition to offshore windfarms.
Mr Stuart told the businessman Scotland was “very confident” about the future of the industry.
He wrote: “Indeed, we would very much like to invite you and your colleagues to meet with some of our members and consider the opportunity of investing in and being part of the success of Scotland’s renewable energy sector.”
Mr Trump, who is opposed to a windfarm planned for Aberdeen Bay near his golf resort on the Menie Estate in Aberdeenshire, will give evidence to a Holyrood committee conducting a renewable energy inquiry on April 25.
Last night, the businessman’s right-hand man George Sorial said the Trump Organisation was not opposed to renewable technologies which worked. Speaking from Trump Towers in New York, he said: “Who would invest in a technology that has failed and is largely driven by government handouts? It is quickest path to going broke.
“What Scotland is doing is very dangerous because it is gambling on technology that has failed in other parts of the world and jeopardising tourism, which has worked for decades.”
Mr Trump is expected to address a rally organised by protest group Communities Against Turbines Scotland outside Holyrood before he gives evidence to the committee.
