Urbex: Inverkip Power Station

Inverkip Power Station is located on the east coast of Scotland at the Firth of Clyde, near to the town of Inverkip with which it shares a name. Construction of the site began in 1970 and ran to an estimated cost of £200 million, aiming for production of 1,900 MW of electricity. Destined to be Scotland’s first oil powered station, it was sadly fated to failure when the oil market crashed in 1973 and the price of oil per barrel quadrupled in 12 months.

The site occupies some 50 acres on the shore line, a location chosen for the ability to use the sea water for cooling rather than building massive cooling towers.  The site does boast an impressive chimney however, standing at 778ft is the third tallest in the UK and Scotland’s tallest freestanding structure.

The station spend its life operating only as a reserve station, running at 700MW output as support for peak demand,  with the remaining 1,200 being mothballed, with the sole exception of the 1984 miner’s strikes creating the need for non-coal powered stations to be used more extensively.  The site was mothballed entirely in January 1988, though it was still maintained with regular inspections and work to keep it in a state whereby it could be brought online if the need arose.  Dehumidifiers have been in operation at the plant since its closure ensuring that equipment is kept dry and serviceable, though monitoring the various pictures from urban explorers visiting the power station; some pieces of equipment have been removed likely leaving the plant in a non-serviceable state.

Talks have begun as to what should happen to the site in more recent years, and it had been suggested that the site would be entirely cleared by spring 2009 to make way for housing, though this has not gone ahead thus far as the power station is still standing at the time of writing.

Adjustment dials at Inverkip Power Station

One of the turbines at Inverkip Power Station

Oil tanker discarded at Inverkip Power Station

The rest of the album can be seen in my gallery by clicking here.

~Shepy