St Fillans Power Station

St. Fillans power station is a small underground station with a head of 830 feet which uses water from Lednock Dam (see separate item) conveyed by pressure shaft to the station. It contains a single 21 MW francis turbine (17MW following refurbishment of 2002 with high load factor). Water from the tailrace discharges into Loch Earn and is then re-used further downstream by Dalchonzie Power Station (see seperate item). St. Fillans power station is a predominantly standard example of an underground station. PL Payne, 1988, 24; E Wood, 2002, 50.

The Breadalbane hydroelectric scheme

Construction took place between 1951 and 1961 in two sections north and south of Loch Tay respectively. Dams were built at the east ends of Loch an Daimh, Loch Lyon, Loch na Lairige and Stronuich Reservoir, supplying Cashlie, Lubreoch, Finlarig and Lochay power stations respectively in the northern section. Water collection is by a considerable group of aqueducts and tunnels in the area of the River Lyon and the River Lochay and their tributaries. Finlarig power station is noted for operation at a head of 1348 feet, the highest of any of the schemes. It produces 30MW from a Pelton turbine-driven alternator, the larges of its type in Britain.

The southern section has dams on Loch Breaclaich and Loch Lednock. These Lochs are interconnected by a tunnel, with a power station at the entry to Loch Lednock. The latter discharges via a tunnel to St Fillans power station at the east end of Loch Earn, which in turn supplies Dalchonzie power station, which outflows into the River Earn. Aqueducts and further channels collect water from the surrounding area. The total output from this hydroelectric scheme is 120MW.

Information from NRHE catalogue item number WP007424, compiled by George Walker in 2005.