Labour urged to stop Britain’s biggest gas storage facility from closing with 450 jobs at risk

Labour must intervene to stop Britain’s biggest gas storage facility from closing, Unite the Union has said.

It should even consider nationalising the Rough storage site if no deal on funding can be reached, said the union, which has more than one million members.

Rough, a depleted gas field that has been converted for storage, lies 18 miles off the Yorkshire coast.

It accounts for around half of the UK’s gas storage capacity, but operator Centrica have said it will not seek to continue production beyond April 2027.

The threat of closure "was endangering jobs and our ability to keep the lights on", Unite claimed.

Centrica has a £2billion redevelopment scheme ready to expand the facility but has demanded guarantees from the Government to ensure the expansion is economically viable.

It wants a "cap and floor" pricing mechanism that guarantees minimum earnings but caps the maximum return.

Centrica says a revamped facility would bolster UK energy security, lower the country’s exposure to volatile prices and support jobs.

Without the work, the "important strategic asset" is at the limit of what it can deliver, said chief executive Chris O’Shea.

The Government has previously said it is open to discussions, but that the expansion is a commercial decision for Centrica.

Now Unite has joined calls for the Government to act to keep the site open.

It said that the Rough storage site was "critical infrastructure . . . vital to energy security supply" that supported hundreds of jobs.

Rough is currently empty because of the dispute, said Unite, which claimed the UK currently has only 12 days of gas supply in storage, the lowest level in recent history.

General secretary Sharon Graham said: "The Rough storage facility is essential to the energy security of the UK. Threats of closure are endangering jobs and our ability to keep the lights on and heat homes.

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"The general public will not forgive the government or Centrica if this facility is allowed to close and our energy supply becomes even more risky in an increasing uncertain world.”

Unite said Rough supported 100 jobs directly and 350 more in the supply chain and argued that "all options" should be considered to keep it open.

"That should include the possibility of bringing it into public ownership," it said.

Unite national officer for energy Simon Coop said: "Rough is a part of the UK’s critical infrastructure and is vital to energy security supply. Therefore, the government needs to work with all parties to secure the future of Rough.

"If that is not possible then Unite will push for the government to keep the site open at all costs including the option of public ownership."

Because the site could be adapted to store hydrogen, a ‘clean’ gas, in the future, it could also play a part in the transition to Net Zero, the union said.

Gas storage isn’t just a problem for Britain.

Historically, the country has relied less on storage because of the North Sea, which still provides more than a third of domestic demand. European countries stock far more.

But storage levels across Europe are also low as winter approaches.

This is because of increased competition for gas as a result of the Iran war. Analysts have warned this could mean a year of high prices, even if the Middle East conflict calms.

Earlier this week, defence minister Luke Pollard said that Rough “is not something that the Government is choosing to invest in”.

He told the BBC’s Radio 4: "This is a very clear commercial decision for the company.

"The steps that we’re taking as a Government are to come off the fossil fuel roller-coaster with more investment in renewables.”

But Mr O’Shea has insisted: "The future of Rough is too important to the UK to be dismissed as simply a ‘commercial decision’."

The Government has been contacted for comment.