Meeting of the Parliament 25 February 2015
Last week, we had yet more unwelcome news about the future of the Longannet power station in Fife. As someone who represents the area, I am well aware of the significance of the plant to the local economy. It was only a few months ago that I made my most recent visit there.
In all the press speculation about the plant’s future, one of our primary concerns should be for the workforce, who undoubtedly face a worrying time. The issue that was highlighted last week in relation to the future of Longannet was that of transmission charging, although there is nothing new about that. Last week, I spoke to both Scottish Power and National Grid about that, and I sincerely hope that a resolution can be found. The Office of Gas and Electricity Markets has recently approved a significant change to substantially reduce future generation charges in Scotland, particularly for a plant such as Longannet, which generally tends to run when the wind is not blowing. Those charges are planned to be introduced from April next year. However, we should go further.
Although transmission charging is a serious issue, we should not pretend that it is by any means the only threat to Longannet’s future. New European Union emissions rules and the introduction of carbon pricing mean that the future of Longannet after 2020 is, at best, very uncertain. Therefore, resolving the transmission charging issue is likely to buy, at best, a stay of execution.
It is a serious matter, and not just for those whose jobs are dependent upon the power station. Longannet provides some 20 per cent of Scotland’s electricity output and the figure has been as high as 25 per cent in the recent past. It is also a major buyer of coal from Scottish opencast producers and its possible closure therefore has a wider significance for the Scottish economy. What makes the current situation even more worrying is the fact that Longannet is not the only power station facing closure. Scotland’s three biggest generating stations are Longannet, Torness and Hunterston, the last two of which are nuclear powered and are both scheduled to close by 2025. Those three power stations currently produce 55 per cent of Scotland’s electricity.
We know that the Scottish Government has something of an obsession with renewable energy. The Scottish Conservatives believe that renewable energy has a part to play as a component in the energy mix, but we do not share the Scottish Government’s single-minded obsession with renewable energy, particularly wind power, to the exclusion of all other technologies. The simple fact is that intermittent energy sources cannot provide the base-load that is necessary to provide electricity to Scotland’s homes and businesses at all times, to meet every demand, whether or not the wind is blowing.