Longannet To Close

By Paul Homewood

 

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-business-32016538

 

There are many knickers getting into twists over the closure of the Longannet coal power station in Scotland next year.

The BBC put out this report a couple of days ago:

 

Scottish Power has announced plans to close its huge coal-fired power station at Longannet in Fife early next year.

The move comes after the energy firm failed to win a crucial contract from National Grid.

Scottish Power said it was "extremely disappointed" at National Grid’s decision.

It had previously indicated Longannet would have to shut if it lost out in a contest to help maintain voltage levels in the nation’s electricity supply.

The SSE-operated gas-fired power station at Peterhead won the contract at the expense of Scottish Power and a third bidder.

The Scottish government said it would hold urgent discussions with Scottish Power, Fife Council and unions about Longannet, which employs about 270 people.

Longannet power station is a bit of a monster. At 2,400 megawatts capacity, the huge plant on the banks of the Forth can keep the lights on for most of Scotland.

Recently, it’s been sweating its 42-year-old sinews to do so, particularly when the wind drops and all those turbines stop supplying the power grid.

Its days were numbered, however. While burning all that coal, it was facing a steeply-rising bill for emissions. And once it has burned through its licence conditions, it was due to close in 2020. That was the intention of government policy, and it has had cross-party support.

However, that date is almost certain to be brought forward to March 2016, following Longannet’s failure to win the National Grid auction for back-up supply to ensure voltage remains steady.

 

The gist is that, as a coal power station, Longannet was being forced to close by 2020 anyway, when it would fall foul of the EU’s Large Combustion Plant Directive. The combination of carbon taxes and competition from subsidised wind simply meant that it was not worth keeping it going any longer.

Coal power supplies about 20% of Scotland’s electricity generation (based on 2013 data), and more like 30% of Scottish consumption (Scotland being a net exporter of electricity). Longannett is the only coal plant in Scotland, and accounts for about 40% of thermal capacity there. It is therefore hugely important for the maintenance of energy security in Scotland, given that there is currently limited interconnector capacity to bring power from England.

However, this particular problem should be remedied when the new Western Link interconnector is ready next year. This 2.2GW cable is designed to take surplus wind power south to England, but will also be used to take power north when wind is in short supply (assuming of course England has power to spare!)

 

However, what is amusing is the political reaction to Longannet’s closure. Again, from the BBC:

 

• Following a meeting of the Scottish Energy Advisory Board, Scotland’s First Minister Ms Sturgeon has written to Prime Minister David Cameron to call for an analysis of electricity capacity margins in Scotland.These issues need to be assessed and that is why I am calling on Prime Minister David Cameron to act.

She is also seeking reassurance that the UK government understands the "key role" which Scottish capacity plays in ensuring adequate levels of energy security across the UK.

Ms Sturgeon said it was clear that "industry experts are concerned about security of supply in Scotland and across the UK, and for the continued maintenance of electricity supplies in a robust manner."

She added: "These issues need to be assessed and that is why I am calling on Prime Minister David Cameron to act.

 

• Dunfermline and West Fife Labour MP Thomas Docherty said the announcement was "extremely disappointing news for the workforce, their families and the wider community around Kincardine".

He added: "For six decades coal power stations have operated in Kincardine, powering hundreds of thousands of homes and businesses across central Scotland.

"We have known for sometime that Longannet would cease generating due to the age of the station, the decision by its owners not to make the necessary investment and the SNP’s obsession with renewables driving Longannet out of the Scottish market.

"However we must now focus all our efforts on helping the community to adapt."

 

• Scottish Conservative energy spokesman Murdo Fraser said it was "a very serious blow" for the workforce at Longannet and for the wider economy.

He added: "We have always known Longannet was going to have to close, but it’s disappointing this has been brought forward.

"It illustrates once again why the Scottish government has to change tack on energy policy."

 

 

 

Everybody is blaming each other, and yet all three parties, the SNP, Tories, Labour, not to mention the Dims, have been full square behind the whole raft of policies that has led to the Longannet closure.

None of them appear to have seen the elephant in the room, that Longannet is just a microcosm of what will be happening across the whole of the UK in the next few years, when all of our coal power stations close.

Unless a way to adopt carbon storage is miraculously found, every other coal plant will follow Longannet. Coal still supplies 29% of UK electricity, and thousands of jobs will be unnecessarily lost as a result.

Has it not occurred to any of these idiots that there will be no coal capacity left to fill the gap when that wind decides not to blow?

Perhaps they have been listening to the even bigger fruitcake, WWF Scotland director Lang Banks, when he said:

Last month, independent analysis found no technical reason requiring new conventional fossil or nuclear generation in Scotland, because we’ve plenty of renewables in the pipeline to cut the carbon and to help keep the lights on.

Crucially, the analysis also found that Scotland could continue to be an electricity exporting nation.

If there were one thing UK Ministers could do to help, it would be to ensure Scotland is not held back from harnessing its full renewable energy potential."