Grangemouth Oil Refinery

Debate between Baroness Bryan of Partick and Lord Hunt of Kings Heath

Thursday 27th March 2025 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Bryan of Partick]

To ask His Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of Project Willow in securing the Grangemouth oil refinery and the jobs of the skilled workers currently employed there.

[The Minister of State, Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (Lord Hunt of Kings Heath) (Lab)]

My Lords, Petroineos’s decision to cease refining at Grangemouth is deeply disappointing. The Government have stood with workers from the outset. Alongside the Scottish Government, we announced a £100 million Falkirk and Grangemouth growth deal package to support the local community. We launched Project Willow to find an industrial future for the site, identifying nine low-carbon business models that could create 800 jobs by 2040.

[Baroness Bryan of Partick (Lab)]

I thank my noble friend the Minister for his reply and for the commitment to the future of Grangemouth. The Project Willow report was paid for by the UK and Scottish Governments but was prepared

“solely on the instructions of Petroineos”,

the current owner of the site. Jim Ratcliffe, the billionaire majority owner of Ineos, is adept at getting Governments to pay for his projects while his company, and he personally, keeps the profits. The nine projects suggested in Willow offer a blizzard of possibilities when what is needed is a clear project that can be implemented as soon as possible. Will the Minister consider fast-tracking sustainable aerospace fuel, along the lines of the proposals from Unite the Union?

[Lord Hunt of Kings Heath (Lab)]

My Lords, I am grateful to my noble friend and of course I am very much aware of Unite’s proposal to transition Grangemouth into a sustainable aviation fuel plant. We are very grateful for the input from Unite and will continue to engage with the union. I have to say, though, that I think the Project Willow approach is the best way forward. It evaluated over 300 technologies and identified nine potential technologies. We have £200 million available from the National Wealth Fund to invest. The focus at the moment is twofold. One is to give support to the workers who are going to lose their jobs. The second is to encourage private investors to look at these proposals. We have the National Wealth Fund, with £200 million to invest, to act as an incentive and we are working very hard in relation to that.