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Bord na Móna unions have expressed surprise and disappointment at ESB’s announcement that its peat power plants in Offaly and Longford will stop generating electricity earlier than originally planned before Christmas.
The ESB announced in November 2019 that the West Offaly Power Station in Shannonbridge and the Lough Ree Power Station in Lanesborough would close “at the end of December 2020”.
However, in a surprise move today, workers at both plants were told that the decision to discontinue production early was based “on a number of factors, including the need to complete production in a safe and orderly manner. “.
The Shannonbridge Power Station will stop feeding the national grid on Friday December 11 and the Lanesborough Power Station, which opened in 1958, will stop producing on Friday December 18.
This has clear implications for workers at Bord na Móna, who have said they expected to be employed in transporting peat to power plants until the end of the year as originally reported.
Fianna Fáil TD for Laois-Offaly, Barry Cowen, has criticized the decision to interrupt power generation at the stations.
“It is difficult to lead people down the path of a just transition when companies like ESB are consistently inconsistent, pushing the closing date forward to December 11,” he said, adding “and there is still no commitment to give up the dismantling in favor of competition. open for alternative use and local benefit. “
Willie Noone of SIPTU and the Bord na Móna Trade Union Group said he was surprised and disappointed to hear the news and asked the company to ensure that the time after closings was used to ensure that all workers had the opportunity start training. in the areas of dismantling of stations and rehabilitation of nearby peatlands.
In a statement, ESB said that although the generation ends two weeks before the end of the year, the staff will remain until December 31.
Forty ESB workers will leave their jobs at the power plants, and the Bord na Móna Union Group says more than 1,000 Bord na Móna workers have already left the company.
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