Note

Date 30 April 2010

Event ID 615883

Category Descriptive Accounts

Type Note

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/615883

Methil, Electricity Generating Station

This electricity generating station is situated in the Fife town of Methil at Innerleven on the south bank of the River Leven on the Firth of Forth, and is by Ross-Smith and Jamieson Architects. It was built on an area which has been reclaimed (1st edition Ordnance Survey 6-inch map, Fife, sheet 25). This electricity generating station was a coal-slurry fired power station which utilised local Fife coalfield waste from coal washeries and had a capacity of 60 Megawatt output. (1) It was a ‘sister’ station to the generating station of Barony in Ayrshire (2) and was commissioned in 1965. It was finally closed in 1999 and demolition began in early 2010.

There were various elements to the site:

1. Rail network - bringing in coal to the south of the main building.

2. Coal handling and crane gantry areas - the trains reversed into the gantry area where there were coal grabs. The coal would be emptied into concrete open ‘tanks’ which were the coal store. This would then be transferred by crane to the Milling Area bay when required.

3. Milling Area – where coal was pulverised in pulverisers (into a finer uniform) and dried by the hot air blast from the boiler furnace.

4. Boiler House – where the coal dust was blown into the two large diesel heated boilers by an air fan. There was one boiler for each of the two turbines. The coal dust would then be burnt, and water was heated (stored in blue tanks on site and taken from the mains supply) to create steam to turn the turbines.

5. Turbine Hall: the electricity was produced via transformers and stepped up to 33,000 volts and then onto a substation and thence to the National Grid.

6. Administrative buildings and workshops

7. Electrical annexe - housed the transformers and switchroom.

8. Chimney – Methil had one brick (single flue) chimney, clad in concrete. This removed spent gases from the site.

9. Precipitators – These deal with flue gases and consisted of large, cladded, steel boxes with fans along the bottom which assisted the flue gases to be expelled up the chimney. Any precipitates which could not be recycled were gathered in a hopper and removed from the site with the ash from the boilers.

10. Water Treatment – for treating mains water used in the boiler area.

11. Water Intake

A photographic record of its exterior was carried out by RCAHMS due to imminent demolition of the power station and ancillary structures. Access to the interior was not possible due to Health and Safety issues.

(1) Information from Pat Gallagher, Consultant Engineer at site , Atkins Global, 6 April 2010.

(2) Information from Pat Gallagher, Consultant Engineer, Atkins Global, 6 April 2010.

Information from RCAHMS (MMD), 30 April 2010.