A senior minister raised ‘real concern’ about the process for approving a major wind farm at the centre of an SNP donations row, explosive new documents have revealed.
Net Zero Secretary Mairi McAllan highlighted a series of issues about the impact of the Green Volt offshore wind development and questioned whether the process had been rigorous enough in an email to then First Minister Humza Yousaf, other ministers and senior Scottish Government officials.
Despite her concerns, raised in an email in April 2024, the Scottish Government approved the development just days later.
Just days before the announcement, the minister had been sent an email in the early hours of the morning with a 117 page document and was requested to make a decision by noon 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 off the Aberdeenshire coast.
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.
Critics said it is ‘highly suspicious’ that the project was granted the go-ahead despite the concerns that were being raised about the process in private.
Scottish Conservative net zero, energy and transport spokesman Douglas Lumsden said: ‘These alarming emails show that even the SNP minister in charge of approving this contract had serious reservations about the way it was awarded.
SNP Westminster leader Stephen Flynn received a £30,000 donation from Flotation Energy
‘The SNP government were secretly acknowledging “real concern” and recognising the ‘legal risk’, while publicly claiming there’s nothing to see here.
‘It appears very dodgy that the SNP were raising issues with the internal process yet they went ahead and approved this project after Stephen Flynn lobbied for it. This looks secretive and highly suspicious on the SNP’s part.
‘Nobody is suggesting the company involved has done anything wrong at all, but there does seem to be a shocking lack of transparency from the SNP on this scandal.’
The Mail previously revealed that 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, just weeks after the Green Volt project was approved by the Scottish Government.
Now new documents released by the Scottish Government in response to a freedom of information request show an email written on behalf of Ms McAllan raised concerns with Mr Yousaf and other senior ministers and officials on April 16 2024.
It said: ‘Cab Sec has commented that she has real concern about the time taken to reach this stage in the process, and more generally, the extent to which the process is able to give rise to timely, satisfactory results which balance objectives in a pragmatic way.
Net Zero Secretary Mairi McAllan highlighted a series of issues about the Green Volt project
‘Ms McAllan thinks it is at risk of being at odds with ministers expectation and stated objectives.’
A series of objections about the Green Volt project were lodged with the Scottish Government about issues including the impact on birds and wildlife, fishing and air traffic.
The email from Ms McAllan’s office said she will ‘move the derogation phase if that is her only option vs rejecting the application’ but said she ‘is not satisfied with the process’.
It went on: ‘Ultimately, Ms McAllan is determined we have a rigorous process which can be applied with consistency and which all stakeholders can have faith in.
‘Her primary concern just now is that the system may be unable to deliver that.’
The documents released by the Scottish Government show Ms McAllan then received an email from officials at 1.51am on April 19 requesting a decision on the application by noon the same day.
It 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 is ‘lawful’, there is ‘a degree of legal risk’ due to the objections.
Allan MacAskill of Flotation Energy, which donated £30,000 to Stephen Flynn
It said: ‘SGLD (Scottish Government Legal Directorate) considers that there is a low to medium risk of legal challenge from relevant stakeholders and a low risk of any challenge being successful as Ministers can be satisfied that the consenting process and the conclusions of the derogations case and the compensatory measures are sufficiently robust.’
The Scottish Government announced that it had backed the Green Volt project on April 22 2024.
Mr Yousaf said: ‘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.’
In November, Mr Flynn defended the donation received by his local constituency branch as ‘appropriate’.
He said: ‘Of course as a member of parliament I contact the Scottish Government regularly on behalf of a full host of individuals, be that in relation to constituency cases, or be that in relation to businesses who are seeking to unblock some of the problems that they face within the system.
‘The two are completely unrelated. I do think it’s appropriate to take donations as a branch from individuals and of course that helps us to campaign right across the city in Aberdeen where we were, indeed, successful in the general election.’
Flotation Energy has said that the Green Volt project will ‘bring jobs and very significant investment to the North East’ and ‘make a big contribution to both the UK and Scottish Government’s climate and offshore wind targets’.
It also said that it has ‘very regular discussions about the project with key organisations including the Scottish and UK Governments, Marine Scotland and Crown Estate Scotland’.
A Scottish Government spokesman said: ‘Support for renewable energy projects has been a longstanding 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.’
