LONGANNET
occupies a site of 89 hectares on the
L
ongannet Power Station at
Kincardine-on-Forth is the
second largest coal-fired
power station in the UK and
one of the largest in Europe.
It is a coal-fired station with
an installed capacity of four 600
megawatt (MW) units. Operating at full
load, it can produce enough electricity to
meet the needs of two million people.
Longannet, with its landmark 183 metre
chimney, has played an important role in
meeting Scotland’s energy needs since
1972, providing electricity for
businesses, transport, homes, hospitals
POWER STATION
Longannet Power Station,
Kincardine-on-Forth, by Alloa,
Clackmannanshire, FK10 4AA.
Tel: 01259 730631
and schools throughout south and central
Scotland.
Electricity generated at Longannet is also
sold in the wholesale markets in England
and Wales and, since December 2001, to
Northern Ireland. The power is exported
via a system of high voltage transmission
lines which is linked to other networks
across the British Isles. Longannet
edge of the River Forth near Kincardine
Bridge. Part of the station was built on
land reclaimed from the estuary using ash
from Kincardine Power Station, which
stood nearby until its demolition in 2001.
In 2000-2001 Longannet achieved the
highest generation output in its 30-year
history, supplying more than 12,250
Gigawatt hours, with coal burn for the
year topping five million tonnes.
Significant investment continues to be
made in the station to improve its
reliability, flexibility and environmental
performance.
 Driving force for industry, commerce
FUEL
Longannet burns Scottish coal from
Scottish opencast operations and other
sources. This is delivered directly to
Longannet’s coal store which can hold over
two million tonnes.
Coal is transferred from the storage area to
bunkers in the boiler house by a
one-and-a-half-kilometre long conveyor
system. From the bunkers, the coal goes
into roller mills which pulverise the coal to a
fine dust, the consistency of face powder,
before it is mixed with preheated air, blown
into the furnaces and burned at very high
temperatures. Each of the four boilers is
served by eight pulverising mills.
WATER FOR STEAM
AND COOLING
Inside each of the boilers at Longannet is a
very large number of tubes which are filled
with water. The water used is taken from
the local town’s water supply and purified
further by the station’s water treatment
plant to avoid “furring up” the boiler.
As the very hot gases from combustion of
the coal pass over the water-filled tubes the
water boils and forms steam.
The steam – up to 1,800 tonnes an hour
per boiler – is produced at a pressure of
169 bars. This is “super heated” to a
temperature of 568º C before being piped
to the high pressure cylinders of the The power of Scotland ... from left, Lo
turbines. The steam is fed to store, a Low NOx Burner arrives for i
turbine hall, big enough to accommo
turbogenerators where the force of it striking
the turbine blades causes the
turbine shaft to spin at high
speed. At the generator end
the spinning shaft of the rotor
rotates at 3,000 rpm within
the tightly-fixed coils of the
stator, creating electricity.
The steam is returned for
reheating and then directed to
the intermediate pressure and
then the low pressure
cylinders of the turbine.
Afterwards the steam is
condensed back into water
using cooling water from the
Forth Estuary – up to 327,000
cubic metres (72 million
gallons) every hour. This water
is later returned to the river.
The turbines have two parallel lines of rotors
(rotating shafts fitted with rings of blades)
The Nerve Centre of
each turning the electromagnet of a 300 MW The central control room is the nerve centre
electrical generator at 50 revolutions a introduced a revolutionary PC-based control
second. There are many rings of blades on degree of automation.
both lines of rotors. To allow for the LOMIS, pictured above being operated, enab
expansion of the steam through the turbines, processes from starting up and shutting dow
progressively larger blades are fitted towards processing. Operators can check on any asp
the low pressure ends of the machines. The any time, with just a few clicks of a mouse.
largest blades are 914 mm long. ensured via a sophisticated protection syste
 and homes
ongannet’s massive coal
installation and the
odate an ocean liner
our Flagship station
e of the power station. Longannet
system, LOMIS, in 1999, providing a high
les the control and monitoring of all
wn generating units, to on-line data
pect of the electricity generation process at
The integrity and safety of operations is
em.
ENVIRONMENT
Longannet Power Station’s Environmental
Management System is accredited to two
key standards, the international standard
ISO 14001 and the EU’s Eco-Management
and Audit Scheme (EMAS). The station
addresses key environmental issues in a
number of ways:
Acidification & Air Quality
Emissions from coal-fired power stations
such as sulphur dioxide (SO2) and oxides of
nitrogen (NOx) can cause “acid rain”. This is
associated with damage to eco-systems,
especially watercourses. Both SO2 and NOx
have been linked with respiratory irritation in
humans. Longannet uses mainly Scottish
coal which is naturally low in sulphur.
However, the station is taking steps to
reduce SO2 emissions further through the
planned installation of Flue Gas
Desulphurisation (FGD) technology. The
technique chosen by Longannet, known as
Seawater Scrubbing, does not employ
quarried limestone but instead uses
seawater to dissolve SO2 from the boiler flue
gases. A study at Longannet has shown that
the technology has minimal impact on the
environment. To minimise NOx the station has
Low NOx Burners fitted on all four of its units
and has developed and proven a pioneering
NOx reduction technique, Gas Reburn. This
technique involves passing natural gas at
high velocity over the coal flame, causing a
chemical reduction which converts NOx into
elemental nitrogen and water vapour. When
used in conjunction with Low NOx Burners, it
can cut emissions of NOx by up to 80%. It
also reduces emissions of sulphur dioxide,
dust and ash by around 20% and cuts CO2
emissions by 8%. The technique was
developed by ScottishPower in association
with a number of international partners at
Longannet Power Station between 1993 and
1998, with assistance from the EU’s
THERMIE programme.
The environmental value of Gas Reburn was
recognised by a Queens’ Award in the
Sustainable Development category in 2001.
Global Climate Change
The combustion of fossil fuels, such as coal
and oil, causes emissions of carbon dioxide
(CO2) the most abundant of the “greenhouse”
gases which have been linked with long term
climate change. ScottishPower’s Generation
business is addressing this issue by ensuring
a balanced mix of generation, including wind
and hydro power as well as coal and gas.
At Longannet, steps have been taken to
reduce CO2 emissions by improving the
thermal efficiency of the plant and through
the use of our Gas Reburn system, where
natural gas displaces 20% of the coal.
Electric experience
for our visitors
Thousands of people have flocked to
Longannet Power Station’s Visitors’
Centre since it opened in 1998.
The Centre explains, through a host of
interactive displays, how electricity is
produced, covering the entire process
from coal mining to the transmission of
electricity and the disposal of ash.
There are also sections on the
environment and ScottishPower’s
renewable energy operations.
Visitors to the Centre can also see inside
Longannet’s massive turbine hall – big
enough to accommodate an ocean liner –
from the viewing gallery.
accumulates, dries out and eventually
creates land, which is capped and
planted for amenity use by the
local community.
TRANSPORTING ELECTRICITY The lagoons are part of the
Electricity from Longannet’s generators is wider Torry Bay Local Nature
fed into transformers which step up the Reserve and ScottishPower
voltage from 17 to 275 kilovolts (kV). The sponsors a full-time countryside
electricity passes through the switch ranger to manage the lagoons in
house beside the main building and is the interests of biodiversity.
sent out via overhead transmission lines
Valleyfield is a haven for wildlife,
to transforming and switching stations on
especially birds, along with butterflies,
ScottishPower’s transmission network.
such as the spectacular Peacock, below,
The high voltage transmission network
DUST dragonflies, damsel flies and small
carries electricity at high voltage to
population centres. The voltage is then
AND ASH mammals. A leaflet on wildlife at the
stepped down at substations before it Generating electricity from coal produces lagoons has been produced and further
passes into local distribution systems. a significant amount of dust and ash. information is published in Longannet’s
Electrostatic precipitators capture dust EMAS Statement and the annual
WASTE DERIVED FUEL from the flue gases and prevent it Generation Environmental Factsheet.
Longannet is involved in a project to reaching the atmosphere.
achieve useful energy recovery from The ash produced is of two types, the
waste derived fuel (WDF). The lightweight light and more abundant Pulverised Fuel
granulised fuel is made from heat-treated Ash (PFA) and the heavier Furnace
and dried sewage sludge at the Daldowie Bottom Ash (FBA).
sludge drying facility near Glasgow. During recent years much of the ash
Up to 65,000 tonnes of WDF, which has produced at Longannet has been
an energy content similar to brown coal, sold by ScotAsh, our joint
will be burned along with coal at marketing venture with Blue Circle,
Longannet Power Station to produce for use in construction and
electricity, combining waste disposal with products such as grout and cement.
useful energy recovery. The project Ash storage facilities, pictured above,
received a Gold Award for its are in place at the station.
environmental benefits in the UK-wide The remainder is transferred to ash
Green Apple Awards during 2001. lagoons at Valleyfield nearby. Here it