In a launch despatched to Rigzone not too long ago, UK union Unite introduced that it has written to UK power secretary Ed Miliband “demanding motion on Grangemouth”.
The union highlighted within the launch that, in September, Grangemouth proprietor Petroineos “introduced that it supposed to shut the one refinery in Scotland with the lack of over 400 immediately employed jobs within the second quarter of 2025”. Unite warned within the launch that the closure “would additionally end in 1000’s extra jobs being misplaced within the firm’s provide chain”.
Unite said within the launch that it has produced “an in depth plan which demonstrates how Grangemouth can comparatively simply be initially transformed right into a Sustainable Aviation Gas (SAF) facility, earlier than additional creating right into a full biofuels outlet”. The union stated the creation of a SAF facility is totally according to authorities insurance policies and famous that Unite’s analysis “has discovered that changing an present refinery is 30-70 per cent cheaper than constructing a brand new facility”.
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“Unite’s report additionally highlights critical considerations about Petroineos’ lack of transparency and a scarcity of proof from the corporate about the necessity to shut the refinery,” Unite said within the launch.
“Unite’s report additional particulars how Petroineos has a battle of curiosity. The corporate is half owned by PetroChina which is ramping up its personal manufacturing of SAFs and would look to import them to the UK,” it added.
“Unite additional highlights how the Undertaking Willow analysis plan is jam tomorrow and has some related conflicts of curiosity,” it continued.
Within the launch, Unite known as on Miliband to conform to a three-part plan, which incorporates “a direct pause to closure threats and an unbiased evaluate into the state of the refinery with an in depth transition plan”; “a speedy transition to Hydro-processed Esters and Fatty Acids (HEFA) primarily based SAF conversion in a single to 3 years, with out job losses”; and “a long-term transition to superior SAF and different gasoline applied sciences, the complete particulars to be agreed by the unbiased evaluate”.
In a letter to Miliband, which was included within the launch, Unite Common Secretary Sharon Graham stated, “a Labour authorities not placing collectively a critical plan for the way forward for the positioning, and the 1000’s of jobs which rely on it, could be an enormous dereliction of responsibility”.
“How this authorities offers with the threatened closure at Grangemouth would be the key check of your dedication to a simply transition for staff and communities, and to our future power safety,” Graham added.
In an announcement within the launch, Graham stated, “Unite has established a transparent pathway for the way forward for Grangemouth, which is completely according to the federal government’s personal help for sustainable fuels”.
“To shut Grangemouth now could be insanity. It’s incumbent on the federal government to take decisive motion. It should break free from the mistruths and distortions created by Petroineos which is placing its personal pursuits forward of these of the employees, the Scottish economic system, and the UK as a complete,” Graham added.
“Continued inaction by the federal government won’t be forgiven or forgotten. A failure to behave will completely undermine the arrogance of staff throughout a number of sectors going through big upheaval as we transfer to a inexperienced economic system,” Graham went on to state.
Rigzone requested Petroineos and the UK Division for Power Safety and Web Zero (DESNZ) for touch upon Unite’s launch.
In response, a Petroineos spokesperson informed Rigzone, “final yr, in partnership with the Scottish authorities, we assessed the viability of securing long-term provide of sustainable bio-feedstocks for a possible biorefinery which may make use of present bodily belongings at Grangemouth”.
“That work thought-about the state of the refinery infrastructure and compliance with present and envisaged regulatory situations. It included financial modelling to judge the prospects of such a facility below a variety of various circumstances,” the spokesperson added.
“It examined world sourcing and creating new feedstock provide chain choices in Scotland. The upshot was that below the present regulatory situations such a transition was not commercially viable,” the spokesperson continued.
“Nevertheless, we proceed to consider Grangemouth is ideally positioned to turn out to be a hub of energy-related exercise. It’s for that cause we initiated Undertaking Willow, to quickly discover the complete vary of low-carbon choices that might be developed right here and, critically, what enabling actions could be mandatory by governments to unlock funding within the in any other case sub-economic biofuels area,” the spokesperson went on to state.
“As an example, coverage proposals capping using HEFA (Hydrotreated Esters and Fatty Acids) unnecessarily units UK SAF producers at an obstacle to opponents in Europe and we can not begin a undertaking to repurpose or rebuild amenities like ours in such an atmosphere,” the Petroineos consultant concluded.
DESNZ has not but responded to Rigzone’s request for remark.
To contact the writer, e mail andreas.exarheas@rigzone.com
