First Minister John Swinney has announced an additional £25 million to establish a Grangemouth Just Transition Fund, as the Scottish government intensifies efforts to secure the site’s future amid its impending closure.
The funding, drawn from ScotWind revenue, will be immediately available in the new financial year to support businesses and stakeholders in developing investible proposals.
“The aim of this fund is to expedite any of the potential solutions that will be set out in the Project Willow report, as well as other proposals that will give Grangemouth a secure and sustainable future,” Swinney stated.
The announcement comes as Petroineos proceeds with its plans to cease refining operations, with only 65 workers to be retained out of approximately 500 positions.
Swinney expressed his government’s position on the closure: “We believe that refining at Grangemouth should continue, that this closure is premature and that it is detrimental to Scotland’s transition to net zero.”
He said the additional £25million for the Grangemouth just transition fund would take the Scottish Government’s total investment for the site to £87million.
Meanwhile, with the North East Just Transition Fund now in its fourth year, only £75million of a promised £500million has been spent, while the scale and pace of progress towards net zero is behind where it needs to be to secure jobs and supply chain opportunities.
Aberdeen & Grampian Chamber Commerce (AGCC) has today written to the Scottish Government urging ministers to look at drawing further ScotWind funds to accelerate spending in the North-east.
AGCC Chief Executive Russell Borthwick said: “While we agree that the Scottish Government should be taking a proactive role in securing a future for the industrial cluster based around Grangemouth, creating a new Just Transition Fund for central Scotland while simultaneously and systematically eroding Just Transition funding for our region is extremely disappointing for communities and businesses across the North-east.”
“The announcement of 400 job losses at Grangemouth is a bitter blow for Scottish industry, however these figures are dwarfed by the 50,000 jobs lost in Scotland’s oil and gas sector over the past decade, the large majority of these in the North-east of Scotland. Studies show that energy jobs in the North-east could decline further from 45,000 to just 28,000 by 2030 without the right support in place to drive our transition to net zero.
“The Scottish Government must not dilute its commitment to our region at this critical time. £15.9 million for 2025/26 is not enough to deliver the scale of projects our region needs to drive Scotland towards net zero over the year ahead. If there is funding to be drawn down from the proceeds of ScotWind, then perhaps you could consider allocating some of this resource to the Just Transition Fund for North-east Scotland and Moray?”
