Lack of wind knocks air out of
renewable energy firm’s sails
By Alan Tovey
A WIND farm investor has pulled the
plug on new renewable energy pro-
jects because of a lack of wind.
Infrastructure investment company
John Laing announced that, due to
wind levels in Europe being lower than
predicted, new investment had been
paused.
Olivier Brousse, its chief executive,
said: “Wind in Europe over the past 18
months has been lower than antici-
pated. We’ve commissioned a long-
term forecast on wind in the region and
it is a lower number than we thought.”
As a result of the farms producing
less energy, the company took a
£55 million hit on the value of its Euro-
pean wind farms.
Mr Brousse said new investments in
renewables had been “paused until we
understand what the future is”. Invest-
ment in renewables in the United
States has also been limited to recy-
cling capital out of existing projects.
Despite the apparent fall in wind, he
said opportunities remained in US
renewable energy, while the sector’s
long-term future in Europe looks as-
sured as it moves from state subsidies.
There were also concerns about an
Australian renewable energy project. Areport by the country’s national grid
operator warned that more power than
expected is likely to be lost as it is trans-
mitted along the connecting power
lines, prompting John Laing to revise
down the value of the project by
£66 million.
Shares in John Laing on the London
Stock Exchange fell nearly 6 per centyesterday as its profits for the first half
of the year dived by 80 per cent to
£35 million as a result of the setbacks
compared with a year ago.
Mr Brousse said he was confident of
hitting full-year forecasts, helped by
strong performances in other parts of
the business. Better performing con-
tracts included providing and main-
taining new fleets of intercity trains in
the UK, rail programmes in Australia
and the US, and a US motorway project.
John Laing uses public-private part-
nerships (PPPs) to build and maintain
assets such as hospitals, bridges, mo-
torways and wind farms,
Despite current concerns in the UK
about PPP deals after Philip Hammond,
the former chancellor, raised concerns
about the taxpayer overpaying, Mr
Brousse was upbeat.
“PPP has been around since the in-
dustrial revolution,” he said. “It is a de-
livery mode fit for purpose and the
government will come back to it. The
debate is not whether it is good or bad.”Man cleared
over video
of burning
Grenfell effigy
By Daily Telegraph Reporter
A MAN has been cleared over the burn-
ing of an effigy of Grenfell Tower after
it emerged someone else may have
filmed the video that caused outrage
when it was shared widely online.
Paul Bussetti, 47, was on trial ac-
cused of sending a “grossly offensive”
video on WhatsApp.
But he was found not guilty after a
two-day trial at Westminster magis-
trates’ court after it was revealed that
evidence in the case had not been dis-
closed to his defence team.
The prosecution had argued that the
content of the footage, which saw card-
board figures burning as the model
went up in flames, was racist in show-
ing black and brown characters who
were meant to be victims of the Gren-
fell Tower blaze, which killed 72.
Mr Bussetti and his friend Clifford
Smith, who hosted the party, rejected
this suggestion, insisting the figures
were of the two men and their friends
and that the whole incident poked fun
at themselves.
Following closing submissions in the
trial, and just before chief magistrate
Emma Arbuthnot stepped out to con-
sider her verdict, the defence barrister
said they had only just been made
aware of vital evidence.
Mark Summers QC said two other
people had told police the figures were
of the defendant and his friends rather
than those who died in the blaze.
He added that a second video existed
and said his team had not been made
aware of either piece of evidence until
the end of the trial.
He argued that the existence of the
second video meant there was “abso-
lutely no way” to know which piece of
footage had made its way on to You-
Tube and gone viral.
Apple issues metal
credit card that’s a
little too precious
By Matthew FieldAPPLE was mocked yesterday after
telling customers not to put its new
“matt white” credit card in a wallet.
The tech giant told holders to keep
the card from leather and denim or risk
“permanent discolouration”. The tita-
nium card represents Apple’s foray into
banking. According to a support page,
“how to clean your Apple Card”, it
should be stored in a non-leather wal-
let or in a “bag made of soft materials”.
The card is also susceptible to
scratches. Users are therefore urged to
take care. To keep it in good condition,
Apple recommends “gently wiping it
with a soft, slightly damp, lint-free
microfibre cloth, [then] moisten a soft,
microfibre cloth with isopropyl alcohol
and gently wipe the card.”
Alex Stamos, Facebook’s former chief
security officer, mocked Apple, stating:
“When not in use, Apple Card should be
returned to a uniformly lit white cube.”
Twitter users joined in the fun, with
one writing: “So the creators of Apple
Pay came up with the brilliant idea of a
physical titanium credit card that
needs its own support line on Apple
Care? This makes absolutely no sense.”McDonnell tells court: protesters inspired me
By Charles Hymas
HOME AFFAIRS EDITOR
A JUDGE has expressed surprise after
John McDonnell, the shadow chancel-
lor, gave a statement in court support-
ing three Extinction Rebellion (XR)
activists charged with public order of-
fences. The activists were convicted by
Judge Richard Blake of offences com-
mitted during Extinction Rebellion
protests that brought central London
to a standstill in April.
In the statement read out at City of
London magistrates’ court, Mr McDon-
nell defended the protests, which are
claimed to be the biggest act of civil
disobedience in recent British history,
because they helped persuade MPs to
declare a formal climate emergency.
He said he and others had been in-
spired by XR’s action and noted that
the Labour Party’s policy programmehad developed quickly and substan-
tially as a result.
“The activists successfully raised the
profile of the climate threat and fo-
cused the minds of us all on the radical
action that is needed,” he said in the
statement. It follows his comments in
June when he said the disruption was
“definitely worth it” in raising aware-
ness of climate change.
Summing up the case and referring
to Mr McDonnell’s intervention, Judge
Blake said: “I was surprised by that
statement. I will say no more than that.”
He found Patrick Thelwell, 20, fromYork; Peter Scott, 66, from Devon; and
Samuel Elmore, 26, from Hyde End,
Bucks, guilty of offences including
breaches of the Public Order Act 1986,
obstructing a highway and obstructing
police. However, he discharged them
on condition that they did not
re-offend in the next year.
He found them guilty after rejecting
the case put forward by Russell Fraser,
their barrister, that they acted out of
necessity to make the Government
take steps to help avert the “cata-
strophic consequences” from inevita-
ble extreme global warming. Theywere the first of the XR protesters to go
on trial with legal representation. More
than 1,000 people were arrested dur-
ing the 11-day protest, which the move-
ment is intending to repeat in London
in October.
The judge said he did not doubt the
sincerity of the trio, accepting that they
were not protesting because “they fan-
cied a lark” but because of their con-
cerns and beliefs that the world faced a
potential climate disaster.
He did note evidence from police
about the disruption which hit some
500,000 travellers including thosewho were less well off and unable to
leave from Victoria bus station.
He urged the three to learn from the
experience. However, Thelwell said af-
terwards that he was committed to tak-
ing part in similar actions later this
year.
The student at the University of York
told the court that the famines to come
would be part of the feared sixth mass
extinction.
Scott, a community choir leader and
care home entertainer, told the court:
“Without disruption I am afraid no-
body listens.”Judge ‘surprised’ by Labour
MP’s statement backing
activists charged over
London demonstrations
Ring road Europe’s first designated mobile phone lane for pedestrians is being trialled in Spinningfields, the financial district of Manchester. The 250ft
(76m) lane opened after research revealed that 75 per cent of British pedestrians admitted bumping into somebody while walking and using their phones.PHIL OLDHAM/PINPEPPaw patrol An RNLI lifeguard rescues a dog using a
surfboard in Porthcothan Bay, Cornwall. Rescuers took
action after the pet ran into difficulties off the rocky coast.JULIAN EALES / ALAMY6pc
The amount by which shares in John Laing
fell by on the London Stock Exchange after
revealing its profits dived by 80pcNews
The Daily Telegraph Friday 23 August 2019 *** 5
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