Loch Faskally, Clunie Electricity Generating Station

Formally opened 1951.

This project was undertaken to input site information listed in 'Civil engineering heritage: Scotland - Lowlands and Borders' by R Paxton and J Shipway, 2007.

From the Clunie dam (NN86SE 66), water is led to Clunie generating station through a two-mile long tunnel, horseshoe shaped in cross-section, with an equivalent diameter of 23 ft. A vivid impression of the size of the tunnel, the largest tunnel in Britain at the time, is given by the memorial arch of the same section above the power station. Approximately 400 000 tons of rock had to be excavated in its construction. The contractor was Cementation Co. Ltd.

From its outlet the main tunnel trifurcates, in steel, into branches each 1212 ft in diameter serving the three turbines. This remarkable trifurcation, now covered over, was made in the workshops of Sir Wm. Arrol & Co. The turbines are of 20.4MW capacity, each operating on a maximum head of 173 ft.

R Paxton and J Shipway

Reproduced from 'Civil Engineering heritage: Scotland - Lowlands and Borders' with kind permission of Thomas Telford Publishers.

This is a large power station receiving water via tunnel and pipeline from Loch Tummel. The station houses three turbines. The water from the tailrace exits into Loch Faskally, a man-made loch formed behind the dam and Power Station at Pitlochry. In addition to the turbine hall, this station was also the former control centre for the scheme and has offices and control rooms as well as workshops. There has been a degree of later alteration to the interior including the blocking of a door on axis with the main entrance which gave access to the turbine hall. In addition to the power station the site also contains a memorial arch at the entrance to the station car park which commemorates those who lost their lives during the construction of the scheme.This is a good example of a large power station incorporating a control centre for the whole scheme. The design is a confident modernist expression, in keeping with the contemporary opinion of the cutting edge nature of hydroelectricity. The original interior plan form of the station has been altered, but it retains a purity of design to the exterior. There is additional interest from the presence of the memorial arch. Electric Board Annual Reports (1943-1990); P L Payne, 1988; J Miller, 2002, 42: 88918 Scottish Hydro Electric, 2000, 18; J Gifford, 2007, 741

The Tummel-Garry hydroelectric power Scheme

The second of the Hydro Board's schemes was an extension of the Grampian Electricity Company's scheme. The Clunie Dam was constructed at the east end of Loch Tummel, increasing its size. A tunnel connects to Clunie power station below the Falls of Tummel. A dam was built at the east end of Loch Errochty whose water was fed by a tunnel and pipeline to a power station at the head of Loch Tummel. Finally, the River Tummel was impounded at Pitlochry forming Loch Faskally. The power station here is built into the dam and incorporates a fish ladder to allow salmon to pass. Loch Faskally forms a balancing reservoir for fluctuations in flow due to the Clunie power station's operations.

The scheme produces a total of 150,000 kW. Work started in 1946 and experienced similar problems to Loch Sloy due to shortages of labour and material, being completed in 1951.

This account relates to the Scottish Hydro collection of photographic images held at HES, Edinburgh. Compiled by a volunteer, Mr George Walker in 2005.

Information from HES (Miriam McDonald), 25 October 2023.