The approval of an offshore wind farm at the centre of an SNP donations row was rushed through so developers could apply for public funding, it can be revealed.
New documents reveal that SNP ministers were given just 10 hours to approve the Green Volt project off the Aberdeenshire coast so its developer could make an application for UK Government “Contracts for Difference” subsidies.
Ministers were informed by officials by email at 1.51am on April 19 2024 that a decision was needed by noon to allow developer Flotation Energy to apply to the UK Government by its deadline of 5pm the same day.
SNP Westminster leader Stephen Flynn had personally lobbied ministers on behalf of developer Flotation Energy to break the ‘consent logjam’ impacting the project.
After the scheme got the go-ahead, a senior official at Flotation Energy gave a £30,000 donation to Mr Flynn’s local SNP branch.
At Holyrood yesterday, John Swinney was told that the process around the project ‘stinks’ – after the Mail revealed that Net Zero Secretary Mairi McAllan had raised ‘real concern’ before the scheme was approved and questioned whether the process had been ‘rigorous’ enough.
In the early morning email to Ms McAllan on April 19 2024, officials in the Scottish Government’s marine directorate licensing operations team (MD-LOT) requested a determination on the Green Volt development.
The email said: ‘This is being submitted with an immediate priority, a decision is requested by Friday 19 April 2024 – before 12 Noon.
SNP Westminster leader Stephen Flynn personally lobbied ministers on behalf of developer Flotation Energy
‘This is to enable MD-LOT, if you reach a positive determination and grant approval, to issue the necessary consents/licences so that the company to (can) apply for the Contracts for Difference Allocation Round 6, which is currently open and closes on Friday 19 April 2024 at 17:00.’
The email enclosed ‘lengthy and technical documentation’ about the project which ran to 117 pages.
The documentation said that, while legal representatives believed that granting the consent was ‘lawful’, there is ‘a degree of legal risk’ due to objections.
In a one sentence reply to the email at 9.14am the same morning on behalf of Ms McAllan, her officials said: ‘On the basis of the advice, the Cabinet Secretary is content with the recommendations.’
In September 2024, the UK Government announced that Green Volt was one of 131 projects to receive funding through its renewables Contracts for Difference scheme, which provides developers with subsidies for clean energy projects.
The Scottish Government announced that it had backed the Green Volt project on April 22 2024, with then First Minister Humza Yousaf saying: ‘It is great news that we have consented the first project in the Crown Estate Scotland’s Innovation and Targeted Oil and Gas (INTOG) leasing round – this is a significant milestone which will help secure Scotland’s place at the forefront of floating wind technology.’
But later the same day, energy giant SSE revealed its Berwick Bank project in the outer Firth of Forth had missed the deadline for submissions for the UK Government scheme because Scottish ministers had not made a decision on approval in time – despite submitting its application one month before Green Volt.
At First Minister’s Questions yesterday, Conservative MSP Craig Hoy said: ‘The secrecy and the lack of transparency is shocking and something at the heart of this process stinks. Does John Swinney not realise how dodgy this looks?’
Net Zero Secretary Mairi McAllan had raised ‘real concern’ before the scheme was approved
Mr Flynn registered a £30,000 donation from Allan MacAskill, the co-chief technical officer of Flotation Energy
Mr Swinney replied: ‘The concerns that the Cabinet Secretary was raising were about the time taken to reach the decision-making process as a consequence of government scrutiny.
‘The minister was expressing her concern that the government had to speed up its decision-making processes in that respect, and that of course has happened as a consequence of the actions taken by ministers in the intervening period.’
The documents sent to Ms McAllan show that objections were raised by the Scottish Fishermen’s Federation in relation to the impact on fishing, while RSPB Scotland raised concerns about the impact on seabird species including kittiwake, gannet, puffin and guillemot and National Air Traffic Services raised issues around the impact on primary radar.
A Scottish Government spokesman said: ‘Support for renewable energy projects has been a long-standing Scottish Government policy.
‘The email clearly highlights the Cabinet Secretary for Net Zero asking how the process for renewable projects could be improved to ensure timely decision making.
‘The Scottish Government has increased resources to planning and consenting, streamlined the application process and progressed development of the offshore wind Sectoral Marine Plan, alongside working with UK Government on changes to wider regulations.’
Mr Flynn contacted Energy Minister Gillian Martin on October 6 2023 on behalf of the chief technology officer of Flotation Energy to highlight his request for a ministerial meeting ‘to break consent logjam’ regarding the Green Volt project.
Mr Flynn registered a £30,000 donation from Allan MacAskill, the co-chief technical officer of Flotation Energy, on August 2, 2024. Records published by the Electoral Commission show the donation was accepted on May 27 2024, just weeks after the Green Volt project was approved by the Scottish Government.
