This list of power stations in Scotland includes current and former

electricity-generating Electricity generation is the process of generating electric power from sources of primary energy. For utilities in the electric power industry, it is the stage prior to its delivery (transmission, distribution, etc.) to end users or its storag ...

power station A power station, also referred to as a power plant and sometimes generating station or generating plant, is an industrial facility for the generation of electric power. Power stations are generally connected to an electrical grid. Many ...

s in

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

, sorted by type. Scotland is a net exporter of electricity and has a generating capacity of over 10 GW. None of this is generated by conventional oil- or gas-burning power stations, instead using one large

gas turbine A gas turbine, also called a combustion turbine, is a type of continuous flow internal combustion engine. The main parts common to all gas turbine engines form the power-producing part (known as the gas generator or core) and are, in the directio ...

power station and two large nuclear power stations, as well as several

hydro-electric Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies one sixth of the world's electricity, almost 4500 TWh in 2020, which is more than all other renewable sources combined an ...

schemes in the

Highlands Highland is a broad term for areas of higher elevation, such as a mountain range or mountainous plateau. Highland, Highlands, or The Highlands, may also refer to: Places Albania * Dukagjin Highlands Armenia * Armenian Highlands Australia *Sou ...

comprising over 80 generating stations with a combined capacity of 1.4GW. Scotland also has an increasing number of

wind farm A wind farm or wind park, also called a wind power station or wind power plant, is a group of wind turbines in the same location used to produce electricity. Wind farms vary in size from a small number of turbines to several hundred wind turb ...

s, due to the large proportion of upland areas. As of July 2010, there were 100 operating wind farms in Scotland with a combined capacity of 8GW; and a further 96 projects under construction or consented, with capacity of 2GW. A number of other power plants include an experimental

wave power Wave power is the capture of energy of wind waves to do useful work – for example, electricity generation, water desalination, or pumping water. A machine that exploits wave power is a wave energy converter (WEC). Waves are generated by win ...

generator on Islay, and Steven's Croft near Lockerbie, the UK's largest wood-fired biomass power station. Since 2016 no coal fired power stations are operating in Scotland. A red background denotes a power station that is no longer operational, and a green background denotes a power station that is currently operational.

Nuclear power stations

Coal-fired

Oil- and gas-fired

Hydro-electric

Pumped-storage hydro-electric

Hydroelectricity Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies one sixth of the world's electricity, almost 4500 TWh in 2020, which is more than all other renewable sources combined an ...

relies on

gravity In physics, gravity () is a fundamental interaction which causes mutual attraction between all things with mass or energy. Gravity is, by far, the weakest of the four fundamental interactions, approximately 1038 times weaker than the stro ...

to propel water through power-generating turbines. The difference in height between the turbine and the water source is known as the " head". Scotland has two

pumped-storage Pumped-storage hydroelectricity (PSH), or pumped hydroelectric energy storage (PHES), is a type of hydroelectric energy storage used by electric power systems for load balancing. The method stores energy in the form of gravitational potential ...

hydro-electric power stations, which pump water back up to a storage reservoir during periods of off-peak demand. Drax Group PLC's

Cruachan Power Station The Cruachan Power Station (also known as the Cruachan Dam) is a pumped-storage hydroelectric power station in Argyll and Bute, Scotland. The scheme can provide 440 MW of power and produced 705 GWh in 2009. The turbine hall is located in ...

was the first such station in the world when it opened in 1965. It can hold of energy, equivalent to 22 hours of full production. 12 hours is reserved for

black start A black start is the process of restoring an electric power station or a part of an electric grid to operation without relying on the external electric power transmission network to recover from a total or partial shutdown.Knight, U.G. ''Power ...

. SSE have proposed building two new pumped storage schemes in the

Great Glen The Great Glen ( gd, An Gleann Mòr ), also known as Glen Albyn (from the Gaelic "Glen of Scotland" ) or Glen More (from the Gaelic ), is a glen in Scotland running for from Inverness on the edge of Moray Firth, in an approximately straight ...

; 600 MW at Balmacaan above

Loch Ness Loch Ness (; gd, Loch Nis ) is a large freshwater loch in the Scottish Highlands extending for approximately southwest of Inverness. It takes its name from the River Ness, which flows from the northern end. Loch Ness is best known for claim ...

, and 600 MW at Coire Glas above

Loch Lochy Loch Lochy (Scottish Gaelic, ''Loch Lòchaidh'') is a large freshwater loch in Lochaber, Highland, Scotland.With a mean depth of , it is the third-deepest loch of Scotland. Geography Located southwest of Loch Ness along the Great Glen, the loc ...

, at £800m. Scotland has a potential for around 500 GWh of pumped storage.Storage Available
'' University of Strathclyde Faculty of Engineering''

Conventional hydro-electric

Several of Scotland's hydro-electric plants were built to power the

aluminium smelting Aluminium smelting is the process of extracting aluminium from its oxide, alumina, generally by the Hall-Héroult process. Alumina is extracted from the ore bauxite by means of the Bayer process at an alumina refinery. This is an electrolyti ...

industry, but many more were built in the mid-20th century by the

North of Scotland Hydro-Electric Board The North of Scotland Hydro-Electric Board (1943–1990) was founded to design, construct and manage hydroelectricity projects in the Highlands of Scotland. It is regarded as one of the major achievements of Scottish politician Thomas Johnston, w ...

to supply the communities of the

. These were built in several "schemes" of linked stations, each covering a

catchment area In human geography, a catchment area is the area from which a location, such as a city, service or institution, attracts a population that uses its services and economic opportunities. Catchment areas may be defined based on from where people are ...

, whereby the same water may generate power several times as it descends.

Wind power

Onshore

Offshore

Others

References

External links

* * Includes a list of currently generating power stations in the United Kingdom * {{DEFAULTSORT:List Of Power Stations In Scotland

Power stations in Scotland This list of power stations in Scotland includes current and former electricity-generating power stations in Scotland, sorted by type. Scotland is a net exporter of electricity and has a generating capacity of over 10 GW. None of this is generated ...

Electricity policy in Scotland