Coal stock towers at Longannet, Scotland’s last coal-fired power station, were successfully brought down in a controlled explosion last week.
The towers were ‘blown down’ in calm conditions at around 10am on Thursday by ScottishPower contractor Brown & Mason along with a further structure known as Unit 2 Precips.
Longannet was closed by ScottishPower in 2016, marking the commitment by both ScottishPower and parent company Iberdrola to decarbonising the economy and a stronger focus on renewable power.
Longannet demolition contractor Brown & Mason was last week globally recognised for its excellent occupational safety record during its demolition works at Longannet by Iberdrola at its 2018 Global Supply Awards in Madrid. Around 220,000 hours have been spent by the firm carrying out waste removal at the plant so far, which used to be the biggest in Europe.
With demolition work still ongoing, over 28,000 tonnes of material removed from site so far, with 98.5% of this being recovered/recycled.
ScottishPower recently became the first integrated energy company in the UK to shift completely from coal and gas generation to wind power. Globally Iberdrola aims to reduce emissions by 30% by 2020, and 50% by 2030 compared to 2007 and be carbon neutral by 2050.