Longannet Power Station is another victim of the EU emissions directive. Opened in 1970 the station had the prestigious title of the largest power station in Europe when it first opened, but this was superseded during it's lifetime. It was also the highest output station in Scotland for it's entire life, the 21st most polluting station in Europe. It was at one point named as Scotland's biggest polluter and as a result had the UKs first carbon capture unit installed in it which was subsequently decommissioned in 2011 as it was uneconomic. That sealed its fete really, so the station finally closed in March 2016.
Longannet has 4 generating sets, 8 boilers and 1 600ft chimney as it's main features. It's certainly the largest station I've set foot in for sure and exploring it was a pleasure. However it is not the most straightforward place to explore, as like all of these sites there's an electric fence of doom round most of the site. There are however, as usual, a few chinks in the armor.
So allow me to set the scene for you. Myself, @extreme_ironing @Adders and @merryprankster decided several months ago to plan a trip to Scotland, primarily to look at some certain bridges up there. However after speaking to a.n.other person prior to our trip, Longannet went well and truly on the list. The problem was we only had two nights, one of which was already filled with the main event. So within a few hours of landing at Edinburgh airport we found ourselves standing outside this magnificent beast scratching our heads over exactly which way was the best angle of attack. After an hour or so of walking we eventually found ourselves inside the buildings and it was well worth the effort we'd just put in.
I absolutely love these places, this is the 4th one of the recent UK closures I've managed to tick off and it didn't disappoint. We didn't really thoroughly explore the place if I'm honest, it was so late by the time we got in and all of us had been awake approaching 24hrs by the time we were leaving. We did see the main event of the turbine hall and control room however so we were happy. Like all these places, if you've got the time there's a shit ton more to discover I'm sure.
Apologies for some of the photos, some of them were hand-held and I was tired.
It was touch and go on finding the control room for a while. . . .
Felt a bit too live this bit, we didn't hang around.
And that's it. This site is huuuge and there's a lot more to discover there, it's just a shame it's 350 miles away!
Thanks for looking
Maniac
Longannet has 4 generating sets, 8 boilers and 1 600ft chimney as it's main features. It's certainly the largest station I've set foot in for sure and exploring it was a pleasure. However it is not the most straightforward place to explore, as like all of these sites there's an electric fence of doom round most of the site. There are however, as usual, a few chinks in the armor.
So allow me to set the scene for you. Myself, @extreme_ironing @Adders and @merryprankster decided several months ago to plan a trip to Scotland, primarily to look at some certain bridges up there. However after speaking to a.n.other person prior to our trip, Longannet went well and truly on the list. The problem was we only had two nights, one of which was already filled with the main event. So within a few hours of landing at Edinburgh airport we found ourselves standing outside this magnificent beast scratching our heads over exactly which way was the best angle of attack. After an hour or so of walking we eventually found ourselves inside the buildings and it was well worth the effort we'd just put in.
I absolutely love these places, this is the 4th one of the recent UK closures I've managed to tick off and it didn't disappoint. We didn't really thoroughly explore the place if I'm honest, it was so late by the time we got in and all of us had been awake approaching 24hrs by the time we were leaving. We did see the main event of the turbine hall and control room however so we were happy. Like all these places, if you've got the time there's a shit ton more to discover I'm sure.
Apologies for some of the photos, some of them were hand-held and I was tired.
It was touch and go on finding the control room for a while. . . .
Felt a bit too live this bit, we didn't hang around.
And that's it. This site is huuuge and there's a lot more to discover there, it's just a shame it's 350 miles away!
Thanks for looking
Maniac
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