Longannet decision means lost jobs and lost capacity, Prospect warns

Prospect has expressed shock and opposition to the announcement that National Grid has not selected Scottish Power owned Longannet power station to be part of its voltage stability contract.

Following a meeting between the union and representatives of Scottish Power, Prospect negotiations officer Richard Hardy said: “Scottish Power is clear that without the National Grid contract there is no economic way for the station to stay open.

“Closure is now planned for March 2016, threatening over 1,000 highly-skilled jobs within the power station and the supply chain. It will also see the loss of 2.5GW of generating capacity from the system with no immediately apparent replacement.

“This decision raises two major concerns for our members – the impact on their jobs and the West Fife economy and the implications for security of supply. Removing such a large baseload generator from the system will make Scotland even more reliant on importing energy from England, at a time when England’s generating capacity is also falling.”

The station was due to close around 2020 allowing time for other generating capacity to come online. Accelerating the closure to 2016 will not allow sufficient time for the lost capacity to be replaced, the union has warned.

“Politicians from all the major political parties on both sides the border need to pull together to reverse this catastrophic decision and achieve a better deal for our members and the economy of central Scotland,” said Hardy.

Prospect will be joining other unions and the Scottish Trades Union Congress at a meeting with Fergus Ewing on Thursday 26 March to discuss the announcement.