Turn Grangemouth into a SAF facility, union demands

Unite the union has written to energy secretary Ed Miliband demanding action on Grangemouth to turn it into a sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) plant.
In September, Grangemouth’s owners Petroineos announced that it intended to close the only refinery in Scotland with the loss of over 400 directly employed jobs, in the second quarter of 2025.
In the letter to Ed Miliband, Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “A Labour government not putting together a serious plan for the future of the site and the thousands of jobs which depend on it, would be a huge dereliction of duty.
“How this government deals with the threatened closure at Grangemouth will be the key test of your commitment to a just transition for workers and communities, and to our future energy security.”
Unite has produced a detailed plan which demonstrates how Grangemouth can relatively easily be initially converted into a SAF facility, before further developing into a full biofuels outlet.
The creation of a SAF facility is entirely in line with government policies. Unite’s research has found that converting an existing refinery is 30 – 70% cheaper than building a new facility.
Unite’s report also highlights serious concerns about Petroineos’ lack of transparency and a lack of evidence from the company about the need to close the refinery. Unite’s report further details how Petroineos has a conflict of interest. The company is half owned by PetroChina which is ramping up its own production of SAFs and would look to import them to the UK.