Methil Power Station

Located to the north east of Methil, on the southern side of the mouth of the River Leven and on the shore of the Firth of Forth, Methil Power Station was a 57 megawatt coal slurry- fired station.

It had been operational since 1965 and was one of only two stations of its type designed to run on the washings from coal mines. As the mines forming the Fife Coalfield closed, waste coal which had accumulated in bings was used as fuel at Methil Power Station. From 2000, Methil stopped electricity generation and had been maintained as part of a strategic reserve by Scottish Power.

The decision was taken by Scottish Power to implement a demolition and site clearance project. The aim of the project was to clear the existing site of all buildings and infrastructure to an acceptable environmental standard.

Brown and Mason were appointed to completely clear the site.

Works included:

• total asbestos removal and demolition of the power station down to 2m below ground level
• the dismantling of power station plant
• marine works
• the controlled explosive demolition of a 100m high reinforced concrete chimney.

Groundworks included the removal of:

• floor slabs, culverts and service trenches;
• foundations, piles and pile caps;
• drainage channels and drainage access chambers;
• tarmac roads, kerbs and kerb race;
• plus other miscellaneous structures such as below-ground tanks

Masonry arisings were crushed and processed onsite for reuse, fulfilling the Client’s environmental brief – up to 95% of arisings were recycled and over 7000 tonnes of scrap collected and reused.

Specialist operations included:

• Marine works: removal of Cold Water intake structure and filling intake chamber with armour stone to seabed level.  Access to the area was gained via multicat work boats, crane barge and small diving support boat.
• Construction of concrete plug within power station inlet culvert.

The project also included clearance of trees and shrubs and stripping of top-soil to 300mm.