South of Scotland Electricity Board
FormerlySouth West Scotland Electricity Board, South East Scotland Electricity Board
TypeGovernment body
IndustryElectricity generation and supply
Founded1 April 1955
FounderAct of Parliament: Electricity Reorganisation (Scotland) Act 1954
Defunct1991
FatePrivatisation
SuccessorScottish Nuclear, Scottish Power
HeadquartersGlasgow
Area served
South of Scotland
Key people
Sir John Sydney Pickles (Chairman)
ProductsElectric power
Production output
22,321 GWh (1989)
ServicesGeneration and supply of electricity
£32.225 million (1987)
Total assetsElectricity generating stations and transmission system
OwnerUK Government (Secretary of State for Scotland)
Number of employees
12,008 (1989)
ParentUK Government
DivisionsDistribution areas (see text)

The South of Scotland Electricity Board (SSEB) generated, transmitted and distributed electricity throughout the south of Scotland, including the former regions of Strathclyde, Lothian, Fife, Central, Borders and Dumfries and Galloway and a few towns in northern England. It operated from 1955 to 1991.

History

As established by the Electricity Act 1947 there were two British Electricity Authority divisions responsible for the generation of electricity in Scotland based in Glasgow and Edinburgh.[1] There were also two area boards for distribution of electricity responsible to the British Electricity Authority and to the Minister of Fuel and Power. It was thought by the industry and government[2] that a single board for the South of Scotland would be better placed to cover the whole area and would provide administrative advantages such as simplification. The South of Scotland would then be in line with the North of Scotland which was covered by the North of Scotland Hydro-Electric Board for both the generation and distribution of electricity. The new arrangement would provide a more efficient service and better match Scotland's needs.[3][2]

The Electricity Reorganisation (Scotland) Act 1954 transferred to the Secretary of State for Scotland the responsibility for electricity matters in Scotland and established the South of Scotland Electricity Board, a new public authority for the generation and distribution of electricity in the South of Scotland.[3] Scotland was given control of its own electricity undertakings, and the responsibility for adequate performance became the responsibility of the Secretary of State for Scotland.[3][2] On 1 April 1955, South West Scotland Electricity Board and South East Scotland Electricity Board were merged into the South of Scotland Electricity Board.[4]

The board operated conventional coal-fired steam stations, hydro-electric stations and nuclear power stations.[1]

The board was dissolved in 1991 as a consequence of the Electricity Act 1989 which privatised the British electricity industry.[5]

Constitution

The 1954 Act specified the management board was to comprise a chairman and not less than four and not more than eight members. All appointments to the board were to be made by the Secretary of State for Scotland.[1]

The Board's headquarters were at Sauchiehall Street and Inverlair Avenue Glasgow.[1]

Chairmen

South East Scotland Electricity Board

  • 1948–1955: Sir Robert Norman Duke, KBE, CB, DSO, MC[6][7]

South West Scotland Electricity Board

  • 1948–1955: Sir John Sydney Pickles, MIEE[8]

South of Scotland Electricity Board

  • 1955–1962: Sir John Sydney Pickles, MIEE[9]
  • 1962–1967: Sir Norman Randall Elliott, CBE[10]
  • 1967–1973: Charles Lewis Cuthbert Allen, FICE, FIEE[11]
  • 1974–1977: Sir Francis Leonard Tombs, FREng (later Baron Tombs)[12][13]
  • 1977–1982: Donald Roy Berridge, CBE[14]
  • 1982–1991: Sir Donald John Miller[15]

Electricity generation

Electricity generated by the Board was from coal-fired steam power stations, hydro-electric stations, and from 1964 from nuclear power stations.[1]

Steam power stations

Outline details of the Steam power stations of the South of Scotland Electricity Board in 1958 are as follows:[16]

Steam power stations of the South of Scotland Electricity Board (1958)
Power station Location Steam raising capacity of boilers, 1000 lb/hr Generating sets Total generating capacity, MW Steam condenser, tower or water course, water flowrate
Barony Cumnock Ayrshire 300 1 × 30 MW 30 Cooling tower 3 million gallons per hour (mgph)
Bonnybridge Stirlingshire 690 1 × 5 MW, 2 × 12.5 MW, 2 × 20 MW 70 Cooling tower 3.35 mgph
Braehead Renfew 2,100 4 × 50 MW 200 River Clyde
Clyde’s Mill Cambuslang Glasgow 2,124 2 × 18.75 MW, 8 × 30 MW 277.5 Cooling tower 3.0 mgph
Dalmarnock Glasgow 2,360 2 × 18.75 MW, 2 × 50 MW, 1 × 60 MW 197.5 River Clyde
Dunfermline Fife 154 1 × 4 MW, 1× 6 MW, 1 × 3 MW 13 Townhill Loch
Falkirk Stirlingshire 85 1 × 1.5 MW, 2 × 3 MW 7.5 Cooling tower 0.4 mgph
Ferguslie Paisley 144 2 × 5 MW, 2 × 3 MW 16.25 Cooling trough 0.76 mgph
Galashiels Selkirkshire 67 1 × 1.875 MW, 1 × 3.75 MW 5.625 Rivers Gala and Tweed

The Board commissioned large coal-fired stations such as the 760 MW Kincardine power station (1958), the 1200 MW Inverkip (1967), the 1200 MW Cockenzie power station (1967), and the 2400 MW Longannet power station (1970).[4]

Hydro-electric power stations

Outline details of the Hydro-electric power stations of the South of Scotland Electricity Board in 1958 are as follows:[16]

Hydro-electric power stations of the South of Scotland Electricity Board (1958)
Power station Location Commissioned Head of water, feet Generating sets Generating capacity, MW Electrical Output (1958), GWh
Bonnington Lanark Lanarkshire 1937 189 2 × 4.92 MW 9.84 55.478
Carsfad Castle Douglas

Kirkcudbrightshire

 1936 65 2 × 6 MW 12 18.234
Earlstoun Castle Douglas

Kirkcudbrightshire

 1936 2 × 6 MW 12 21.821
Glenlee Castle Douglas

Kirkcudbrightshire

 1935 380 2 × 12 MW 25 46.72
Kendoon Castle Douglas

Kirkcudbrightshire

 1936 150 2 × 10.5 MW 21 44.467
Stonebyres Lanark Lanarkshire 97 2 × 2.84 MW 5.68 28.474
Tongland Tongland

Kirkcudbrightshire

 1935 3 × 11 MW 33.25 74.175

Nuclear power stations

The South of Scotland Electricity Board commissioned three nuclear power stations.[17][18]

South of Scotland nuclear power stations
Power station Reactor type Output Construction Commissioned Closed Status
Hunterston A Magnox 2 x 180 MWe 1957 1964 March 1990 Decommissioning
Hunterston B AGR 2 x 610 MWe 1968 1976 January 2022 Defuelling
Torness AGR 2 x 682 MWe 1980 1988 – Operational

Transmission

The supply of electricity was by high voltage cables. In 1958 there were 170 miles of transmission line operating at 275 kV and 841 miles at 132 kV.[1] They connected 20 power stations and 44 transforming stations. There were connections to the North of Scotland grid system and to England via the 275 kV Clyde’s Mill to Carlisle line.[1] By April 1989 there were 526 km of 400 kV lines; 1,565 km of 275 kV lines; 1,642 km of 132 kV lines; and 80,256 km of less than 132 kV lines.[19]

Distribution areas

Electricity supply to customers was through eight Distribution Areas. The supply and other key data for 1956 were as follows:[16][1]

South of Scotland Electricity Board distribution areas (1958)
Distribution area Electricity supplied to grid, MWh Max demand, MW Electricity sold 1956, GWh Consumers
Ayrshire 558,761 116,180 409,298 107,194
Clyde 1,021,442 240,170 848,830 194,048
Dumfries and Galloway 249,980 57,820 195,309 46,774
Edinburgh and Borders 1,074,638 240,000 858,571 242,449
Fife 463,369 86,550 337,321 98,189
Glasgow 1,232,475 301,880 1,034,764 265,802
Lanarkshire 1,334,684 278,250 1,182601 216096
Stirling 608,293 109,200 432,119 95,807

Operating data 1949 to 1989

Key operating data for the South of Scotland Electricity Board is summarised in the table.[19]

Key operating data for the South of Scotland Electricity Board
Year Total output capacity, MW Maximum demand, MW Customers, thousands Employees Capital expenditure, £ million Net profit, £ million
1949 885 956 8945 2.8 0.787
1959 1656 1750 1342 12758 27.4 0.097
1969 3837 3574 1478 15121 61.0 0.632
1976 6082 3925 1550 13941 70.2 2.720
1977 7183 4307 1564 13672 55.2 22.286
1978 7572 4228 1569 13632 42.7 5.618
1979 7418 4496 1576 13730 52.5 9.532
1980 7826 4225 1585 13658 64.7 0.099
1981 7826 4106 1956 13624 128.5 16.531
1982 6316 4733 1605 13005 287.4 17.231
1983 6356 4009 1614 12720 316.5 44.101
1984 6188 4052 1628 12307 407.5 42.567
1985 6250 4154 1642 12019 376.0 –11.94
1986 6230 4237 1655 12172 368.6 43.618
1987 6160 4406 1669 12339 364.3 32.225
1988 5518 4125 1682 12173 224.7 12.69
1989 6768 4026 1700 12008 158.3 1.424

The amount of electricity supplied by the board, in GWh, is shown on the graph.[19]

Dissolution

As a consequence of the Electricity Act 1989, which privatised the British electricity industry, the nuclear assets of the South of Scotland Electricity Board were transferred to Scottish Nuclear.[5]

In January 1990 a reactor at the Hunterston A Magnox Power Station was shut down. The second reactor was shut down on 31 March 1990, the day before the nuclear generation assets (Hunterston A, Hunterston B and Torness Power Stations) were vested with Scottish Nuclear.[5]

The remainder of the assets were privatised as Scottish Power in 1991 and the South of Scotland Electricity Board was dissolved.[5]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Garrett, Frederick (1959). Garcke's Manual of Electricity Supply. London: Electrical Press. pp. C-19 to C-38.
  2. 1 2 3 "Electricity Reorganisation (Scotland) Bill 1954". hansard.parliament.uk. 29 July 1954. Retrieved 4 January 2020.
  3. 1 2 3 Hannah, Leslie (1982). Engineers, Managers and Politicians. London: Macmillan. pp. 266–277. ISBN 0333220870.
  4. 1 2 Electricity Council (1987). Electricity Supply in the United Kingdom. London: Electricity Council. ISBN 085188105X.
  5. 1 2 3 4 "The restructuring and privatisation of electricity distribution and supply businesses in England and Wales" (PDF). ifs.org.uk. 2001. Retrieved 5 February 2022.
  6. ↑ The Electrical Review, vol. 157 (1955), p. 1255.
  7. ↑ "Duke, Sir (Robert) Norman", Who Was Who (online ed., Oxford University Press, December 2019). Retrieved 26 April 2020.
  8. ↑ Electrical Times, vol. 141 (1962), p. 170.
  9. ↑ "Chairman Retiring", Coventry Evening Telegraph, 27 January 1962, p. 9.
  10. ↑ "Elliott, Sir Norman (Randall)", Who Was Who (online ed., Oxford University Press, December 2019). Retrieved 26 April 2020.
  11. ↑ "Allan, (Charles) Lewis (Cuthbert)", Who Was Who (online ed., Oxford University Press, December 2019). Retrieved 26 April 2020.
  12. ↑ "Tombs, Baron, (Francis Leonard Tombs)", Who Was Who (online ed., Oxford University Press, December 2019). Retrieved 26 April 2020.
  13. ↑ North of Scotland Hydro-electric Board, Report and Accounts (1974), p. 8.
  14. ↑ "Berridge, (Donald) Roy", Who Was Who (online ed., Oxford University Press, December 2019). Retrieved 26 April 2020.
  15. ↑ "Miller, Sir Donald (John)", Who Was Who (online ed., Oxford University Press, December 2019). Retrieved 26 April 2020.
  16. 1 2 3 Electrical Journal (1958). Electricity Undertakings of the World 1957-8. London: Benn Brothers. pp. 225–226.
  17. ↑ "Hunterston A power station".
  18. ↑ "Torness power station".
  19. 1 2 3 Electricity Council (1989). Handbook of Electricity Supply Statistics. London: Electricity Council. pp. 90–93. ISBN 085188122X.

Further reading

  • Leslie Hannah, Engineers, Managers and Politicians: The First Fifteen Years of Nationalised Electricity Supply in Britain (London and Basingstoke: Macmillan for The Electricity Council, 1982).
  • THE FRASERS' RETURN (1963) (archive film sponsored by the South of Scotland Electricity Board - from the National Library of Scotland: SCOTTISH SCREEN ARCHIVE)


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