Methil Power Station

Methil Power Station is a coal-slurry power plant built in 1965 on the coast of Fife where the River Leven joins the sea. Coal slurry is the low-grade byproduct of coal washeries, consisting of mainly coal dust and water. Methil’s two 30MW generating units were specially built to burn this slurry, which came from the neighbouring Fife coalfields by road and rail. Google’s aerial imagery shows the rail lines which have now been ripped up.

As the Fife coalfields closed, supplies of the slurry dried up, and the plant closed in the mid ’90s – a brief trial using one generating unit to burn refuse for power wasn’t a success. The plant is now scheduled for demolition.

The slurry store, and the elevated hoppers for fueling the boilers, with one of the two gantry cranes:

Methil is definitely a child of the ’60s, with two pink English Electric turbines:

One of two turbine control panels:

It must have been noisy in the control room – it’s a box between the turbines and the boilers, which doesn’t look very soundproofed:

Higher up in the boilers:

Lower down, some Howden dust collectors:

And some Howden blowers:

With some transformers and Mirrlees Watson equipment:

The solvents section is also very colourful:

The admin building is connected to the powerplant by a couple of angled bridges:

In the admin building are the labs:

With some samples:

And the changing rooms:

Back into the powerplant and up onto the crane gantry:

The crane itself has elegant curved beams:

And finally a couple of panoramas – the turbine floor:

And up inbetween the boilers:

Watch a full-screen slideshow, or browse the full image collection:

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