Project Willow report on future of Grangemouth available this month, MSPs told
Acting Energy Secretary Gillian Martin insisted she is ‘not sitting around passively’ as hundreds of workers are set to lose their jobs at refinery.
A £1.5 million report into the future of Scotland’s last remaining oil refinery will be available by the end of the month, the Scottish Energy Secretary has said.
Project Willow, funded by both the UK and Scottish governments, will assess the feasibility of transitioning Grangemouth to a low-carbon energy hub.
Petroineos announced last year that it plans to shut the refinery and transition it into an import terminal, keeping only around 65 of the 500 jobs there.
Gillian Martin, Scotland’s Acting Energy Secretary, told Holyrood on Thursday she hopes Project Willow can encourage investors into the site.
Speaking about the report, said: “It will be available by the end of this month, around about the end of this month.
“We are ensuring that both government and Petroineos get sight of the full report.
“But more than that we are teeing up potential investors to see the report as well.
“I have been working very hard on this with my colleagues in Scottish Enterprise and SDI (Scottish Development International).
“We’ve had considerable interest in what Frederick Willow will bring up and I am feeling hopeful, although I would like to see the refinery continuing, I would like to see Petroineos, their shareholders make a different decision about the closure of the refinery so we can get Project Willow and investors involved in the future of the site.”
The PA news agency understands the report will not be publicly available until shortly after Petroineos and the Scottish and UK governments receive it.
Redundancy letters have already been sent to staff at Grangemouth ahead of its planned closure. It is understood only a small number of redundancies are mandatory.
During portfolio questions on Thursday, Alba MSP Ash Regan accused the Scottish Government of “pontificating over a just transition” while workers lose their jobs.
She told the minister: “This is a sorry situation. Hundreds of highly skilled jobs to be lost probably forever.
“No refinery capability in Scotland, which is a top 25 oil-producing nation.
“The results will of course be worse for the environment as imports have a higher environmental cost.
“Minister, this has been coming for months. We have warned and warned and warned about this.
“While the Government is happy to sit around pontificating about a just transition, instead to everyone outside of here it looks passive and pointless.”
She urged the Scottish Government to use “devolved powers creatively” to help save jobs at the refinery.
Ms Martin said: “I can assure Ash Regan that I am not sitting around passively at all.
“I have done nothing since my tenure as energy minister but engage in this with the previous UK government, with Petroineos itself and with the current UK Government.
“I have engaged in very good faith with the UK Government in our joint offers to fund work into the future of the site, and I am doing what I can with our enterprise agencies, with my officials and other partners in the Cabinet to encourage investment in the site.”
A UK Department for Energy Security and Net Zero spokesperson said: “We know this is a concerning time for workers and their families, and we are leaving no stone unturned to find a viable long-term future for Grangemouth.
“Before July, there was no overall plan for the future of the Grangemouth refinery.
“Within weeks, we worked with the Scottish Government to put together an unprecedented £100 million package to support the community and invest in the local workforce, along with tailored support to secure good, alternative jobs.
“We are also jointly funding Project Willow with £1.5 million, which is urgently engaging with trade unions and developing options for a sustainable industrial future at the site.”
