Longannet Closure Confirmed

Longannet Power Station in Fife, Scotland's last coal-fired power station, is to close on March 31st 2016.

Earlier this year ScottishPower announced that it was likely that Longannet would need to close following National Grid’s decision not to award the station a contract for grid balancing services. The company says the combination of high carbon taxes and high transmission charging means that running a thermal plant in Scotland is uneconomic. Longannet Power Station will now close on March 31st 2016, marking the end of its 46 years of power production in Scotland.
 
ScottishPower says it's been working closely with the trade unions, local councils and the Scottish Government to assess and manage the potential impact of the closure. The station directly employs 236 people and dialogue has begun with employees. The power firm says a number of opportunities will be available for redeployment to other areas of the ScottishPower business, and early retirement and redundancy packages will also be available.
 
Neil Clitheroe, CEO of Retail and Generation at ScottishPower, said: “This is a sad day for ScottishPower, and for our highly-skilled and committed team at Longannet. We have explored every potential option to keep the station open, and we still maintain that Longannet could continue generation in to the next decade under the right economic conditions.”
 
“Our main focus now is consulting with staff to ensure we find the best outcomes possible for all of the 236 impacted employees, many of whom have spent their entire career at the station. We would like to thank everyone at the station for their professionalism and continued commitment, and we know that the last few months have been very difficult. We will work hard with every person at Longannet to try to find the best outcome for them, whether it is finding another role in ScottishPower or leaving the company.” 
 
Prospect, the union representing professional, engineering and technical staff at Longannet, has expressed dismay at today’s announcement that the plant will close.

Prospect negotiator Richard Hardy said: “The news is a body blow not just to Prospect members at the plant and the economy of West Fife and the Forth Valley, but also to Scotland’s hopes of remaining self-sufficient in energy generation.

“It is extremely disappointing that, despite the efforts of Scottish Power and the Scottish Government, it has not been possible to put in place ways of keeping Longannet open until its original planned closure date of 2020. National Grid has forecast very tight margins for power supply this winter so removing a station that generates enough electricity for two million homes is senseless.

“Our members are paying the price for a mechanism that rewards companies building power stations near to London and penalises those in Scotland. Scotland generates 12% of the UK’s total power yet pays 35% of the transmission charges. That is not a good deal for either companies or the customer.”

Hardy said Prospect will now focus on working with Scottish Power, the Scottish Government and the relevant local authorities to help as many of the 1,100 workers as possible find new jobs.

“These are skilled, highly-trained people and it is in the best interests of everyone if they stay in employment,”.

Scottish Liberal Democrat leader and MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife Willie Rennie MSP has urged the Scottish Government and Fife Council to do all that they can to assist workers of Longannet Power station.

Mr Rennie said: "The closure of this iconic plant marks the transition from the old to the new forms of energy generation. As the MP for Longannet I worked to secure green investment for the plant to extend its life. I know this will be a poignant moment for local people who have lived in the shadow of the plant. For the workers, it be an anxious time even though they knew this day would come.  The Government and Council must do all they can for the workers, there must be an efficient and effective clean up of the site ready for new business and jobs and governments must work together to fill the energy gap that will be created by this closure."

Douglas Chapman SNP MP, for Dunfermline and West Fife said: ‘’This is very disappointing news and particularly for the workforce - families and communities who depend on Longannet, it will be a very worrying time for them. It has been long expected but that does not lessen the blow or the anxiety in the community. The key threat to Longannet’s future has always been the UK’s energy policies. We urgently need a fair and level playing field with the rest of the UK and the current transmission charging regime is far from that.

“Scottish electricity generators pay substantially more in transmission charges than equivalent generators in England and Wales.  Longannet’s charges were forecast to increase from £40 million this year to £51 million in 2017 and 2018. That has long been the threat to Longannet and why we have today’s completely avoidable closure announcement.

“Jobs and investment are being lost to Scotland under the current UK regime. This closure illustrates why Scotland must no longer accept a position where our levels of electricity security are threatened by UK energy policies.

"From my discussions and correspondence exchanged with the UK Government ministers, I do not think they either fully understand or care about this closure, the impact this decision will have  on electricity supply in Scotland or the wide range of skilled jobs that will be lost to the Fife and Scottish economy." 

Labour's Shadow Energy Minister Lewis Macdonald MSP said: “Although this news will come as no surprise to Longannet employees, it is nevertheless deeply disappointing that Scottish Power has now confirmed the closure of the Fife power station up to four years earlier than previously anticipated. 

“Over 200 job losses will hit the workers, their families and local communities hard, and it is vital that the Scottish Government responds accordingly. 

“SNP Ministers have been reluctant to engage on this issue and setting up a task-force only today shows they have been far too slow in preparing for the consequences. It is high time Fergus Ewing put people before politics and worked with Fife Council to support Longannet workers going forward. 

“Longannet’s closure, and the decision not to proceed with Cockenzie, also raises serious questions about what contingency policies, if any, are in place for Scotland’s future energy supply, and these are questions which need to be answered urgently at Holyrood and Westminster.”