THE premature closure of Scotland’s only remaining coal-fired power station at Longannet at a time of falling spare capacity in the system is a “national scandal”, the energy minister said yesterday as he prepared for talks today with union representatives.

Fergus Ewing told MSPs the Scottish Government would “strain every sinew” to help employees at the struggling Fife plant if it did have to be shut down.

Unions have warned that up to 1500 jobs are at risk after operator Scottish Power said the station will “in all likelihood” close by March 2016 after losing out on a short-term National Grid contract to Peterhead.

Some 270 workers are employed at Longannet, but it is estimated a further 1250 jobs may be lost through transport and open-cast mining supply chain contracts.

In a statement at Holyrood, Ewing defended the Scottish Government’s renewables policy against claims it was harming power stations such as Longannet.

He said: “Some members opposite believe the development of renewables has harmed the prospects of thermal stations. Those arguments are false.

“They might have carried some credibility if we were in a situation of healthy oversupply, but spare capacity in the GB system has fallen to as low as two per cent.

“The fact that we are even debating Longannet’s future at exactly the point when the UK authorities have allowed energy security to dwindle so severely is a national scandal.”

He said the government was “determined” to explore any option that might avert the premature closure of Longannet.

The plant has been under pressure from new European Union (EU) environmental legislation and carbon taxation combined with higher transmission charges to connect to the grid due to its location in Scotland.

Ewing said the UK transmission charging regime had “uniquely disadvantaged” Longannet, which was forced to pay £40 million to connect to the grid.

He said: “We believe the decision taken by National Grid and endorsed by the outgoing UK Government is flawed, and it fails to take account of serious flaws in the UK electricity supply system.

“Scotland has an established policy towards its electricity generation, one which recognises the need to maintain a balanced mix of generation, but our efforts are frustrated by the UK Government’s unwillingness to address Scottish issues properly.

“Clearly, on a wide range of issues we remain at the mercy of decisions taken in Westminster over which this parliament and this government has no control.

“This lack of power over key decisions on energy policy should concern all political parties in Scotland and should prompt some deeper reflection on the future of our energy system.”

Ewing continued: “The UK authorities have created an environment in which it is increasingly difficult to operate thermal plants in Scotland.

“Scotland exported 28 per cent of the power we generated in 2013 and we want to continue delivering large amounts of electricity across these islands, but our ability to do so is undermined by a UK framework that penalises Scottish generators and discourages investment.

“The location-based transmission charging methodology introduced to Scotland in 2005 under Labour UK government is the single and biggest and most pressing issue.”

The energy minister said his thoughts were with the 270 people directly employed at Longannet and others in the supply chain.

He said the Scottish Government will work with Fife Council on a joint response to the situation after the Labour-led local authority called for a taskforce to be set up to forge an action plan for the months ahead.

“The Government and all our partners will strain every sinew to secure the best possible outcomes for all off those affected and to mitigate the local and national economic impact if closure cannot be averted,” Ewing added.

But Murdo Fraser, Conservative MSP for Fife and convener of Holyrood’s energy committee, said this “whole episode exposes once again the utter failure of SNP energy policy”.

“They’re anti-fracking, anti-nuclear, obsessed with wind power, and as a result we face the loss of 55 per cent of our generating capacity in eight years,” he said.

“Energy-rich Scotland will be importing power from England to keep the lights on.”

The minister pointed out that Fraser said higher transmission charges in Scotland “does discriminate against Longannet”.

“Mr Fraser is never slow to challenge the Scottish Government when he feels that any other form of costs facing business are higher north of the Border than south,” he said.

“But for some strange reason when it comes to electricity generation ... they say nothing about it.

“Could that be because their bosses based in London don’t allow them to stand up for Scotland?”

Fife Council leader David Ross said the authority was in discussions with the Scottish Government about the setting up of a taskforce, with a meeting scheduled for next month.

He added: “We want to see what can be done to support the employees affected and understand the impact and see what we can do to mitigate the effects.”