ONYBODY fa has been onywye near Aiberdeen Beach Boulevard, or driven on the A90 northbound o the city, in the past twa month or sae will hae noticet a subtle difference tae the scenery. Weel, mebbe the 16,805 tonne cran, Asian Hercules, pittin up eleven 77m high wind turbines, fit tak up a total area o 19km², is a bit o a shock tae the system avnoo, but seen we’ll aa be sae uised tae them that we winna e’en ken that the Aiberdeen Affshore Wind Fairm is aire.

Ah canna help but smile ivrey time that Ah leuk oot tae the North Sea an see that anither ane o these turbines, fit hiv been cried the warld’s mais poo’erfu, hiv poppit up. In fact, Ah get a warm, fuzzy feelin inside jist thinkin aboot it. Ane o the reasons for this is simply because, tae me, it’s a wye o gien Donald Trump a big twa fingers up – somethin fit arguably nae mony kwintra’s in the warld hiv heen the guts tae dae as muckle as the Scots. Jist kenin foo muckle the POTUS is riled up bi the wind fairm, fit he cried wid destroy oor coastlines an cause Scotland tae becam “a third world wasteland”, fills ma wi delight. Ah’d like tae think aire’s nae onybody oot aire fa actually believes that this is the honest opinon o a man fa is blatently only interested in rubbin his hauns thegither an makin siller, but, in this crazy warld that we live in, aire’s mair than likely mair than a haunfae o fowk fa genuinely believe that Donald Trump gies twa hoots aboot the coastline o the North East o Scotland.

It maks ye extremely prood tae ken that at Holyrood we’ve got a government fa disnae gie in tae the pressure o somebody fa, at the time o tryin tae put a stop tae the Aiberdeen Affshore Wind Farim, was an incredibly poo’erfu an weel aff business-chiel, an instead puts the interests o baith oor kwintra an the warld first. It’s nae the first time that us Scots hiv tane a staun against him though. Aiberdonians in particular arnae feart tae show Trump fit we think o him, sic wis seen fan, in 2015, Robert Gordon University quite richtly tane awa his honorary degree aifter he caad for Musilms tae be banned fae enterin the US. Aire hisnae been a lack o protests ower his golf course at Balmedie either.

The fact that the wind fairm is a continual reminder that oor neuk stauns up tae fowk fa preach hate isnae the anely reason fit why it’s sic a bonnie sicht tae sea in the North Sea. It’s also a reminder that oor kwintra is ane o the maist advancit in the warld fan it cams tae renewable energy. At the tail-end o last ‘ear, the Scots Government made it their goal tae hae 50% o Scotland’s heat, transport an electricity consumption supplied fae renewable sources bi 2030. In 2017, wi thirteen ‘ear still tae go tae reach that target, 68.1% o gross electricity consumption cam fae renewable sources. Compared tae nae anely the rest o the United Kingdom, but the rest o the warld, Scotland is miles aheed. Sae we’re daein nae bad sae far, an the Aiberdeen Affshore Wind Fairm is jist gaun tae contribute tae makin these aaready affa impressive statistics even better, whilst at the same time gien the warld an affa big haun in it’s fecht against climate change.

Truth be telt, this isnae jist ony auld wind fairm that’s gaun up aside Aiberdeen. It’s the first European Offshore Wind Deployment Centre (EOWDC) tae iver cam intae existance. That in itsel is extremely admirable. As the wind fairm is gaun tae be the maist poo’erfu ane in the warld, the benefits that’s gaun tae cam wi it are gaun tae be immense. It is predicted that the EOWDC is gaun tae poo’er aroon aboot a whoppin 66,009 hames per ‘ear, an fulfil 70% o Aiberdeen’s domestic electricity demand. Takin intae consideration that Aiberdeen is Scotland’s third lairgest city, wi a population o ower 230,000 fowk, that is an absolutely massive step forrit towards achievin the objective o 50% o Scotland’s poo’er bein supplied fae renewable sources bi 2030. The EOWDC is also gaun tae be extraordinarily eco-freenly bi reducin 133,405 tonne o CO² per ‘ear. Foo can onybody complain aboot appearances fan these turbines are gaun tae produce results lik ‘at?

Ae final benefit o the Aiberdeen Affshore Wind Fairm, an the increase o the production o renewable energy in Scotland in general, is that it’s creatin mair jobs. Nae only will has this specific project creatit employment for fowk tae transport and install the turbines, in the future aire could be lang-term jobs takkin care o the upkeep o them. Last ‘ear it wis reported by the government that aire wis 58,000 jobs in the renewable energy sector in Scotland, wi affshore wind bein the biggest employer. Considerin the gigantic job losses in the field o Oil & Gas, farby nae company, nae even the big anes sic as Total an BP, hiv gien unscathet, new positions bein made in Aiberdeen, an addin tae the national nummer, can only be a guid thing.

If onythin the appearance o these wind turbines bring back bairnhood memories o an auld favourite TV show o mine; The Teletubbies. But mebbe oor wind turbines will hae e’en mair wonderful poo’ers than the Teletubbies’ magical ane, since aa o the anes that we’re gaun tae hae in the North Sea arnae gaun tae ruin the bonnie coastal views, but instead are gaun tae mak oor futures an affa lot brichter, an hiv aaready showed the POTUS fit us Scots are made o.