Political calls to avoid a closure of the plant have increased in recent months, and Swinney is expected to add his voice to the debate at a visit to the coal-fired plant in Fife today. He is expected to advise the Scottish government against accepting a “position where its levels of security are threatened by UK energy policies” and consider the “full implications” of closing the plant.
“The government’s objective is to secure Scotland’s electricity supplies through a balanced energy mix where conventional power stations play a key role alongside renewable energy,” he is expected to say.
“Longannet plays a key role in security of electricity supply, voltage control and ‘black start’ capability as well as supporting over a thousand jobs and benefitting the Fife and wider Scottish economy.
“Experts advising the Scottish government have questioned many of the assumptions made by National Grid. They believe these assumptions may be over-optimistic, especially when capacity margins in the UK may fall to as low as 2 per cent this winter.
“Openness from National Grid and the UK government is essential for the hundreds of employees at Longannet and those within the broader supply chain who must be able to scrutinise the rationale for decisions taken on this question.”
In October last year, the future of the Longannet power station was thrown into question because of high transmission charges in Scotland making it “uneconomic” for Scottish Power to bid it into the December capacity auctions, in which coal-fired power plants secured 18.7 per cent of the capacity market.
In February, the Scottish National Party called on the UK prime minister to take “urgent action” to avoid the closure of Longannet and, earlier this month, MSP Chic Brodie urged Westminster to heed the warning that transmission charges pose a “major barrier” to new power generation in Scotland.
Reacting to the deputy first minister’s speech, WWF Scotland director Lang Banks said it is “clear” that the “massive growth” in Scotland’s renewable output and planned upgrades to the transmission network that “the lights will not go out when Longannet closes”.
He also argued that National Grid has “made it clear” that Longannet is not needed to ‘black start’ the Scottish region of the grid in the event of a catastrophic system wide failure.
“Even if Longannet were to close in 2016, the National Grid is already taking steps to ensure grid stability,” he said.
“What is needed is a just transition toward a clean-energy future, with efforts focussed on securing new low-carbon employment in the area. To help achieve this aim, the next UK government must to ensure that Scotland is not held back from harnessing its full renewable energy potential.”