A further structure at Longannet, Scotland’s last coal-fired power station, was successfully brought down in a controlled explosion earlier today.
This morning, 4 February, a further structure at Longannet, Scotland’s last coal-fired power station, was successfully brought down in a controlled explosion.
Video of Boiler house blowdown at Longannet
The remaining section of the boiler house was ‘blown down’ safely, within current government guidelines, by ScottishPower’s demolition contractors Brown and Mason.
The boiler house is the last major structure to be brought down ahead of the demolition of the iconic stack that stands at the site, expected later this year.
Longannet first began generating back in 1970 and at full production could produce enough electricity to power 2 million homes on average each year. At 2.4GW, the site was Europe’s largest coal-fired power station when first built and remained Scotland’s largest coal-fired power station until its closure.
Keith Anderson, CEO of ScottishPower said: “In 2016 we made the decision to close Longannet after over 40 years of generation. This step marked our commitment, and that of our parent company Iberdrola, to decarbonise the economy.
“This commitment has been strengthened time and again over the past five years – two years after Longannet’s closure we closed our remaining coal plants and sold our gas business, making us the first integrated energy company in the UK to generate 100% green electricity. Now we’re investing £10bn out to 2025 in important infrastructure like new wind farms and upgrading the network to help us in the race to net zero.”
In November this year, Scotland will host the United Nations 26th Annual Climate Change Conference, COP26. The 12-day event will be held in Glasgow and is expected to be the most significant climate event since the 2015 Paris Agreement.
Keith adds: “The fight against climate change has never been more important and COP26 is an incredible opportunity to show how far Scotland has come on its decarbonisation journey and what more we’re doing to make net zero a reality.
“As the UK’s only integrated energy company we are working to build the assets and infrastructure required to reach our climate change targets through a green recovery.”
ScottishPower currently owns and operates enough renewable energy to power the energy needs of up to 1.8 million homes, including the UK’s largest onshore windfarm, Whitelee, and a renewable pipeline of over 7GW.