This was a 2,400 megawatt coal fired power station, capable of using other fuels.
The power station was alongside Longannet Mine which provided it with coal by conveyor. In addition further coal was delivered by rail.
The rail facility was a large loop from the Stirling, Alloa, Kincardine and Dunfermline Town route. The loop met the main line with triangular junctions allowing a train to approach from either direction or leave in either direction without reversal. Much of the layout was on an area previously used for a rail served MOD depot.
With the closure of the route beyond Kincardine Power Station in 1981 most trains approached from the east, although there was hopper coal loading and later a simple loading pad at Kincardine Power Station from the 1980s.
With the closure of Longannet Mine in 2002 more trains were required and the additional trains, many with imported coal coming from Hunterston High Level Sidings but also from Ravenstruther, Mossend Marshalling Yard, Thornton Marshalling Yard, Inverkeithing Sidings clogged up the railways of the Central Belt and Fife, and battered the Forth Bridge. The Stirling - Alloa - Kincardine line re-opened in 2008.
Failure to win a contract to supply electricity to the National Grid led to closure in 2016. Demolition of the buildings and chimney were in 2021.
Ash from the power station was placed in lagoons. In 1997 the ash was used by Blue Circle at Westbury. Ash was carried in PCA wagons with empties from the power station on their return journey to Killoch Colliery. The PCA wagons were left at Falkland Yard and taken on by the Irvine - Burngallow 'Enterprise' to be dropped off at Newport and finally worked to Westbury.
Nearby stations Culross [2nd] Kincardine Culross [1st] Grangemouth Bogside Fife Kilbagie Kinneil Kinneil [1st] Bo^ness [1st] East Grange Thornbridge Halt Bo^ness Birkhill Torryburn Forest Mill | Longannet East Departure Longannet West Departure Longannet Mine Sands Siding Longannet East Arrival Longannet Bunkers Longannet West Arrival Anglo-American Oil Company Oil Tanks Grangemouth Docks Tourist/other Longannet MOD Grangemouth Eastern Channel Timber Basin Grangemouth Eastern Channel Grangemouth No 5 Signal Box (East Cut) Firth of Forth Grange Dock |
Location names in dark blue are on the same original line. |
/08/1954 | National Coal Board Valleyfield Colliery no 3 pit sinking begins on reclaimed land to the south of no 1 and 2 pits. No 2 pit is re-built. Spoil is dumped on the River Forth foreshore and ultimately, combined with ash from Longannet Power Station, connects Preston Island to the mainland. |
/ /1962 | South of Scotland Electricity Board Longannet Power Station planned by South of Scotland Electricity Board (SSEB). The National Coal Board (NCB) plans to supply it from Bogside Colliery No 3, Castlehill Mine and Solsgirth Colliery via Longannet Mine at the power station. Longannet will be connected to Solsgirth by a five mile underground conveyor. |
/ /1964 | National Coal Board Construction begins of drift mines to supply the new Longannet Power Station. Longannet Mine (where coal was brought to the surface), a new Bogside Mine (No 3), Castlehill Mine and Solsgirth Mine. The mines will work the Upper Hirst seam. |
/ /1970 | South of Scotland Electricity Board Longannet Power Station in operation. |
/ /1973 | South of Scotland Electricity Board Longannet Power Station fully opened. |
/ /1985 | Stirling and Dunfermline Railway
Kincardine Line (North British Railway) Longannet Power Station (excluded) to Alloa West Junction (excluded) out of use. Track left in place for possible re-opening. |
/ /1988 | South of Scotland Electricity Board Kincardine Power Station sidings in northern yard disconnected at both ends. Southern sidings used for coal loading for Longannet Power Station. |
/ /1991 | South of Scotland Electricity Board Scottish Power South of Scotland Electricity Board wound up by privatisation and Scottish Power takes over assets. (eg Kincardine Power Station, Longannet Power Station.) |
/04/1997 | Kincardine Line (North British Railway) Longannet Power Station to Kincardine Power Station re-opened to freight. This was to allow opencast coal, brought to Kincardine by road, to be carried to Longannet power station. |
15/05/1997 | Kincardine Branch (North British Railway) Coal loading at Kincardine Power Station's yard for Longannet Power Station begins. Coal was brought in by road to Kincardine until at least 2000. |
27/03/2002 | Scottish Coal Longannet Mine complex closed following in-rush of water in the Castlehill workings. Following this Scottish Power had to import considerable quantities of coal through the Hunterston Ore Terminal for Longannet Power Station. |
/02/2003 | Kincardine and Dunfermline Railway (North British Railway) Coal import terminal near Longannet Power Station for Scottish Power proposed (Longannet Mine had closed the previous year). |
19/05/2008 | Stirling and Dunfermline Railway Kincardine Branch (North British Railway) The railway between Stirling and Alloa re-opens to passengers. The line between Stirling and Longannet Power Station via Alloa re-opens to freight providing an alternative route to the Forth Bridge. |
24/03/2016 | Scottish Power Longannet Power Station closed. |
09/12/2021 | Scottish Power Longannet Power Station chimney demolished. |