Some may call it an eyesore but for many the towering chimney of the Longannet Power Station is a historic and powerful reminder of Fife’s industrious coal past.
Here is a look at 20 images from our archives highlighting the rise and fall of Scotland’s last coal-fuelled power station.
The then-Scottish Secretary of State Donald Dewar, centre, brought up the first coal from the Kincardine reserves at the Longannet colliery in 1998. Picture: PA.
A freight train carries coal between Hunterston and Longannet. Picture: Ciaran Donnelly.
Longannet was a major employer and often recruited modern apprentices, such as 16-year-old Scott Hunter from Rosyth. Picture: Ken Stein.
Scottish Power took over the operation of Longannet in 1991 from South of Scotland Electricity Board. Picture: Wullie Marr.
Scottish Power’s chief executive, Nick Horler, switched on the carbon capture unit in 2009, the first time that CO2 emissions have been captured from a working coal-fired power plant. Picture: Paul Lees.
The Longannet site was the second-largest coal-fired power station in the UK and one of the largest in Europe. It had an installed capacity of four 600MW units, which could produce enough electricity to meet the needs of two million people. Picture: Andrew Milligan/PA
A flame from INEOS Grangemouth refinery flickers in the foreground near Longannet power station, after it was announced Longannet was to close in 2016 after failing to secure a crucial contract with the National Grid. Picture: Andrew Milligan/PA.
The interior of the turbine hall at Longannet Power Station. Picture: Andrew Milligan/PA.
An employee works in the main control room. Picture: Andrew Milligan/PA.
Deputy First Minister John Swinney visited the station in 2015, seen here in the control room. Picture: Andrew Milligan/PA.
Willie Ferguson on the red carpet below Longannet’s coal yard. Typically storing up to two million tonnes of coal, the red carpet at the bottom had not been seen since 1969. Picture: Andrew Milligan/PA.
A workforce of just over 200 worked their last shifts at the site on the March 24 2016. Bobby Smart, then 59, from Kincardine, had worked at the plant since he was 19. Picture: Wullie Marr.
At noon Bobby Smart presses the button to shut down Longannet Power Station and end the age of coal in Scotland. Picture: Wullie Marr.
Workers leave Longannet Power Station in Fife for the last time, after it had been in operation for 46 years. Picture: HEMEDIA.
The entrance to the control room as workers pass through its corridors for the final time. Picture: Andrew Milligan/PA.
Although the coal-fired power station stopped generating in 2016, the chimney has been a regional landmark for generations, dominating the Forth skyline. Picture: Stuart Atwood/PA Wire.
The boiler house was demolished in February 2021, with the iconic chimney due to follow this Thursday. Picture: Andrew Milligan/PA.
The sun sets over the prominent power station with the Firth of Forth in the foreground. Picture: Wullie Marr.
Longannet in pictures: Scotland’s last coal-fired power station
