MSP to call for new gas-fired power station at Longannet

Mid Scotland and Fife MSP Murdo Fraser is to call on the Scottish Government to support the construction of a new gas-fired power station at Longannet.

Mr Fraser, Scottish Conservative energy spokesman, said the move would retain hundreds of highly skilled jobs in the area and help to ensure Scotland maintains its electricity capacity to guarantee that “the lights don’t go out”.

With Longannet’s future uncertain and both Hunterston and Torness nuclear plants due to close, the Scottish Conservatives will use today’s debate in the Scottish Parliament to argue for the building of more power stations.

Mr Fraser will tell MSPs that an electricity mix based purely on renewables has no future and that without new power stations there is a real danger of energy blackouts.

“Not only does Longannet currently provide a quarter of Scotland’s electricity output, it is also the major buyer of coal from Scottish opencast producers,” he says.

“Longannet would be an ideal place for a new gas station to be located. The infrastructure is there, the skills are there and the workforce is there.”