Scotland will on Thursday witness an end to the coal age which fired its industrial revolution with the closure of Longannet power station. The symbolic switch off is an important step towards a lower carbon Britain but is another blow to energy security. The Fife-based plant – the biggest of its kind in Britain – has been generating electricity for a quarter of Scottish homes for almost half a century but has bowed to a mixture of old age, rising transmission costs and higher taxes on carbon. Over 230 direct jobs and an estimated 1,000 indirect ones could be hit by the decision from Spanish-owned utility, Scottish Power, to switch off the last generator at the 2,400 mega watt capacity plant. “Coal has long been the dominant force in Scotland’s electricity generation fleet, but the closure of Longannet signals the end of an era,” said Hugh Finlay, generation director at ScottishPower.
Guardian 24th March 2016 read more »
BBC 24th March 2016 read more »
FT 24th March 2016 read more »
Scotsman 24th March 2016 read more »
Herald 24th March 2016 read more »
Richard Dixon: When the steam turbines at Longannet power station cease to turn at the end of this month there will be no coal being burned for electricity production anywhere in Scotland for the first time in at least 115 years. For a country which virtually invented the Industrial Revolution, this will be a hugely significant step, the beginning of the end for fossil fuels in Scotland. We failed to have a planned transition when deep coal mining collapsed in the 1980s. We failed again in the 1990s with the closure of most of Scotland’s heavy industries. A lesson from Longannet is that we should recognise the writing on the wall for North Sea oil and gas and start now to plan an orderly transfer of skilled workers and investment from oil and gas to renewable energy and energy efficiency, and at the same time show an international lead on climate change.
Herald 23rd March 2016 read more »
The Scot-Govt. has today given the go-ahead for construction and operation of a gas fired combined heat and power (CHP) plant at BP’s Kinneil Terminal at Grangemouth. The terminal is adjacent to the INEOS Grangemouth petrochemical complex and processes approximately 40% of the North Sea crude oil production which is brought to the site via the Forties pipeline system. The Kinneil Terminal requires steam for heat energy to drive the necessary oil separation processes and the new plant will meet those requirements.
Scottish Energy News 23rd March 2016 read more »
The National 24th March 2016 read more »