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, who chaired the board from 1945 to 1959.

North of Scotland Hydro-Electric Board
FormerlyNew establishment
Company typeGovernment body
IndustryElectricity generation and supply
Founded1943
FounderAct of Parliament: Hydro-Electric Development (Scotland) Act 1943
Defunct1990
FatePrivatisation
SuccessorNorth of Scotland Electricity plc
HeadquartersEdinburgh,
Scotland
Area served
North of Scotland
Key people
Thomas Johnston (Chairman)
ProductsElectricity
Production output
7073 GWh (1989)
ServicesGeneration and supply of electricity
£15.741 million (1988)
Total assetsElectricity generating stations and transmission system
OwnerUK Government (Secretary of State for Scotland)
Number of employees
3917 (1989)
ParentUK Government
DivisionsDistribution areas (see text)

Background

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In the 1930s several schemes were proposed to develop hydro-electric power in the north of Scotland. These met with opposition by landowners, sporting interest and the coal mining industry on the grounds of competition.[1] There was also opposition from official sources. Plans to build a power station at Kinlochleven for the benefit of the aluminium industry were shelved when Inverness County Council refused to allow water from the River Spey and River Laggan to cross the county border into Argyllshire.[2] In 1938, the Caledonian Water Power bill was defeated in Parliament. This would have allowed a private company to build hydro-electric schemes in the Highlands, and its defeat was welcomed by the Inverness Courier, whose editorial proclaimed:

The opponents of [the Bill] have been falsely represented as being opposed to the development of water power and the introduction of industry in every shape and form. Nothing could be further from the truth. What we ... maintain is that there shall be no further development of the water power resources of the Highlands until a Committee is set up by the Government to enquire into [how] ... these water resources should be developed for the benefit of the Highlands.[3]

When World War II broke out, Tom Johnston, who had been a member of Parliament since the 1920s, was appointed as Regional Commissioner for Civil Defence for Scotland. In 1941, Winston Churchill, who was by then Prime Minister, having failed to convince Johnston to accept a post in London, asked him to be Secretary of State for Scotland. He agreed, providing that he could form a Council of State consisting of all five of the former Secretaries of State who were still alive. If they could agree on an issue affecting Scotland, Johnston would look to Churchill to support the plan. He also did not want to receive any payment for the post, while the war lasted.[4] Like the Inverness Courier, Johnston did not want private enterprise to be managing national resources, and had voted against the Caledonian Water Power bill in 1938. When another bill for a hydro-electric scheme in Glen Affric was put forward in September 1941, it was defeated, and Johnston announced that the government had its own plans for water power in the Highlands.[5] In October, the Committee on Hydro-Electric Development in Scotland was set up, although it was generally known as the Cooper Committee, after its chairman Lord Cooper. Other members of the committee were William Douglas Weir, an engineer who had helped to plan Britain's national power grid in the 1920s; Neil Beaton, chairman of the Scottish Co-operative Wholesale Society; James Williamson, a civil engineer who had been involved with hydro-electric schemes in Galloway in the 1930s; and John A. Cameron of the Scottish Land Court.[6]

Prior to the committee meeting, Cooper was sceptical of its aims, believing that most of the feasible hydro-electric schemes in Scotland had been explored by the Snell Committee, which met between 1918 and 1921. With the exception of the Glen Affric scheme and the West Highland scheme, both of which had failed to gain parliamentary approval, the only schemes left to pursue were small and unlikely to be viable. He initially dismissed the subsequent Hilleary Report as amateurish, but careful study of it convinced him that some action could be taken.[7] Despite the wartime conditions, the committee devoted the first half of 1942 to researching existing documentation and consulting with a wide range of organisations, including the Central Electricity Board, the Electricity Commission, fishery boards, local authorities, estate owners and even the Royal Scottish Automobile Club.[8] The committee published their report[9] on 15 December 1942, and it was quite remarkable, not least for its clarity and lack of ambiguity. It was systematic, analytical and realistic, causing Johnson to tell the House of Commons that it was 'by common consent, a masterly production and a model of terse, constructive and courageous draftsmanship.'[10] It argued that state policy had for over twenty years discouraged or prohibited private enterprise from developing the water resources of the Highlands, and had failed to produce its own strategy, resulting in deepening depression gripping the region. It suggested that the only realistic solution was a new public body called the North of Scotland Hydro-electric Board to initiate and develop schemes, including the distribution of power in areas where there was no existing supply network.[11]

Johnson worked hard to ensure that the report would be well received. He talked to many people across the political spectrum, attempting to disarm potential opponents. Civil servants working for the Scottish Office also worked to understand potential opposition to the scheme, noting that the most likely group to oppose it would be the Coal Owners Association, who had a powerful influence in Parliament. By the time it was put before Parliament, Johnson had obtained cross party support from eight Cabinet Ministers, including the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Sir Kingsley Wood.[12] At its second reading in the House of Commons, Johnson stated that the bill was a 'partial remedy' for the malaise of the Highlands, which was 'rapidly bleeding to death' as a result of outward migration. He emphasised that surplus power would be sold to the national grid, to defray the costs of distribution in remote rural areas, and that the new Board would be responsible for economic development and social improvement of large swathes of the Highlands.[13] Despite the clear vision of the original report, large numbers of checks were added to the bill, requiring parliamentary approval at every stage of implementation, to the extent that James Henderson-Stewart of East Fife, who represented the Liberal National Party, moved an amendment to attempt to free the Board from such bureaucratic interference, arguing that if Parliament was not going to trust the Board to do its job, then they should not set it up in the first place. His amendment was later withdrawn when the Lord Advocate agreed to amend the bill at its committee stage, based on the objections raised during the debate.[14]

Hydro-Electric Development (Scotland) Act 1943
Act of Parliament
 
Long titleAn Act to provide for the establishment of a Board for the development of supplies of electricity in the North of Scotland; to authorise the Board to generate and supply electricity and for purposes connected with the matters aforesaid.
Citation6 & 7 Geo. 6. c. 32
Dates
Royal assent5 August 1943

The bill was received enthusiastically in the House of Lords, where it was presented by Lord Alness. There was widespread support for the measures, and particular praise for Tom Johnson. Lord Airlie stated that speed was important, as residents were unlikely to remain content with the economic depression of the region for long. Finally, Lord Lovat appealed that when projects were implemented, they should use Scottish workers from the Highland Division when they returned from war, rather than Irish navvies.[15] The necessary legal powers were granted by the Hydro-Electric Development (Scotland) Act 1943 (6 & 7 Geo. 6. c. 32), which was passed on 5 August 1943.[16]

Constitution

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In September 1943, the names of the five board members were announced. Four were jointly appointed by the Secretary of State for Scotland and the Minister of Fuel and Power. The fifth was a nominee of the Central Electricity Board, and a member of that board.[17] The chairman was to be David Ogilvy, the Earl of Airlie. He had worked with Johnson when they had been in charge of civil defence, and had initially been critical of the 1943 act because its scope was too limited. The deputy chairman and chief executive was Edward MacColl, an engineer with wide experience of hydro-electric projects and electrical distribution networks. His was the only full-time post. Neil Beaton had previously been a member of the Cooper Committee, Hugh Mackenzie was the Provost of Inverness, and the final member was the Central Electricity Board nominee, Walter Whigham, who was also a director of the Bank of England. Ill health led to him being replaced by the engineer Sir Duncan Watson soon afterwards.[18][19]

Shortly after the conception of the board, Major Gwilym Lloyd George, the Minister for Fuel and Power, led a committee which considered how electricity supply could be rationalised in Britain. Johnson argued that his proposals would destroy the principles of the 1943 act, and eventually ensured that the Hydro-Electric Board was excluded from them.[20] Some initial work under the act was carried out by civil servants, but the board took office in January 1944, and moved into a permanent office in Rothesay Terrace, Edinburgh a few weeks later. MacColl knew how to build up new organisations, and assembled a group of enthusiastic engineers around him, all of whom were relatively young. It was a fairly small team, and they were always over-worked. MacColl then invited five engineers, drawn from major engineering consultancies, to consider how the aims of the act could be implemented. This constituted the Panel of Technical Advisers, and they became an important and permanent part of the board's activities for fifteen years.[21]

The headquarters of the board in Rothesay Terrace, Edinburgh were located outside the board's operating area. The 1943 act specified the management board was to comprise a chairman and not less than four and not more than eight members.[22] The board in 1958 comprised Thomas Johnston (chairman), Sir Hugh Mackenzie (deputy chairman), Sir John Erskine, Sir George McGlashan, A. I. Mackenzie, A. Macrae, I. A. Duncan Millar, William Hughes, and John Jardine.[23]

When the UK electricity supply industry was nationalised in 1948, the board took over the assets of the Grampian Electricity Supply Company and other bodies producing electricity in the northern part of Scotland, these were: Campbeltown and Mid-Argyll, Crieff, Dunoon and District, Loch Leven, North of Scotland, Peterhead, Stornoway, Thurso and District, Dundee, Aberdeen, Perth, Inverness, Buckie, Lossiemouth, Branderburgh and Oban Corporations.[23]

Activity

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One of the first responsibilities was to produce a Development Scheme. This would detail the available water resources in their area of operation, which had the potential to later become 'constructional schemes'. MacColl pressed on at breakneck speed, and within three months they had a list of 102 sites with potential for development. These ranged in size from small, such as one utilising Loch nan Gillean (Plockton) and streams, with a capacity of four million units (kilowatt-hours per year) to huge schemes such as that at Glen Affric, with a capacity of 440 million units. The capacity of all the schemes combined was estimated to be 6,274 million units, which was considerably more than the 4,000 million units suggested by the Cooper Committee. MacColl wanted to ensure that no scheme could later be rejected because it had not been included in the Development Scheme. Guthrie Brown, one of the Panel of Technical Advisers, later wrote of his amazement at MacColl's detailed knowledge of so vast an area and its potential for water power.[24][25]

While Johnston was still fighting the political battle to save the Board from Lloyd George's reorganisations, MacColl wanted to begin building a scheme to demonstrate the effectiveness of the Board. He chose Loch Sloy as the first constructional scheme.[26] The loch had been the proposed site of a 360 MegaWatt pumped storage scheme in 1935, which had been rejected by Parliament, and the new scheme was for a conventional hydro-electric station with a lower capacity of 130 MW. The plans included two smaller projects, at Loch Morar and Kyle of Lochalsh, which were probably included to demonstrate the Board's commitment to providing power to remote communities, even though on their own these two projects would not have been economically viable.[27] Despite approval by the Amenity Committee, the Fishery Committee and the Electricity Commissioners, the Loch Sloy scheme was opposed by several county councils and some private individuals, raising the same issues that had prevented development of hydro-electric power in the Highlands for many years. An inquiry, chaired by John Cameron KC, was held in Edinburgh, which lasted for six days. The Board had done themselves no favours by moving the site of the dam after the original plans were published, but Cameron was sympathetic to their cause, and handled attempts to scuttle the plans skillfully. Some of the county councils withdrew their opposition during the hearing, but Dumbarton Council persisted with their claim that they needed Loch Sloy for domestic water supply. Cameron decided that their development plans were too optimistic to be achievable, and ruled that the scheme was in the public interest. He stated that the Secretary of State should approve the scheme, and Tom Johnston as Secretary of State did so. No further objections were received while it was before Parliament, and the Loch Sloy scheme was authorised on 28 March 1945.[28]

The second constructional scheme was the Tummel–Garry scheme, which included a much smaller project for a power station at Kerry Falls near Gairloch. The main scheme would involve the construction of three dams, the first near Trinafour to create Loch Errochty along the course of a stream called Errochty Water, a tributary of the River Garry. This would feed a power station near the head of Loch Tummel. The second dam would be built across the River Tummel upstream of the Falls of Tummel, and would feed Clunie power station, located below the falls. The level of Loch Tummel would be 17 feet (5.2 m) higher. The third dam was to be built across the Tummel above Pitlochry, which would supply compensation water to maintain the flow in the river downstream as well as generating power.[29] The Hydro-Electric Board were unsure whether to proceed at the time, because of the opposition to their previous scheme, but MacColl was adamant that they should fight to ensure the principles of the original Act of Parliament were not eroded. The Central Electricity Board and the Electricity Commissioners approved the scheme on 7 February 1945, but the Amenity Committee and the Fisheries Committee both wanted parts of it omitted. When it was published by the Secretary of State, there were 25 formal objections, with Perthshire County Council, riparian owners and the residents of Pitlochry leading the opposition.[30]

Johnston decided that a tribunal was necessary to consider the objections, and John Cameron was joined by Sir Robert Bryce Walker and Major G H M Brown Lindsay. It began on 25 May 1945 and lasted for ten days, with the transcript of the proceedings running to 1,188 pages.[31] MacColl was unable to speak, as he was ill, and Lord Airlie was savaged by those opposing the scheme. In desperation, he asked the question, "Do the people of this country want electricity or do they not?" Lord Airlie recovered his composure for the second day of the hearing, and was followed by technical experts, including Thomas Lawrie, who spoke in place of MacColl, and J Guthrie Brown, who spoke eloquently on every aspect of the civil engineering works.[32] The objectors had their say from the end of day six onwards, and predicted that the amenities of the area would be destroyed by the scheme. It also became clear on day nine that a number of riparian owners had donated waterfalls to the National Trust for Scotland, to make the Board's job more difficult.[33] The final report acknowledged the serious objections to the scheme, and examined them against the public interest. It stated that the scheme must stand or fall as a whole, and that despite some possible damage to amenities, the project should proceed.[34]

Following the decision of the tribunal, an order to confirm the scheme was placed before Parliament, but unlike previous schemes, there were attempts to annul the order. William Snadden, the member for Perth and Kinross lead the attack, claiming that "the beauty of the heart of Scotland will be forever broken." All of the issues that had been aired at the tribunal were raised again, and there were savage attacks on both the Board and on Lord Airlie. There were however supporters for the scheme, and Colonel Errol, the member for Althincham and Sale, was particularly lucid as he proclaimed that the Scottish Lowlands and England were going to pay for cheap power for the Highlands. He also wondered whether those who would no longer visit the River Tummel might be outnumbered by those who came to see the engineering works, and he reminded the house that everyone connected with the scheme was Scottish. When a vote was taken, annulment of the order was rejected by 248 votes to 63.[35] Lord Kinnaird was persuaded not to introduce a similar motion to annul the order in the House of Lords, and so the Tummel–Garry scheme was authorised on 19 November 1945. However, Lord Kinnaird introduced a debate on the operation of the Hydro-Electric Development Act, at which Lord Airlie was able to put the case for the Tummel–Garry scheme and to explain the way in which the board operated. There were some who felt that there was no need for hydro-electric power at all, because it would soon be superseded by atomic power. In summary, Lord Westwood, the leader of the house, spoke in favour of the Board and Lord Kinnaird's motion was rejected, allowing the Board to continue. Lord Westwood also stated during the debate that all objections to the Fannich scheme, on the River Conon in Ross-shire, had been withdrawn, and the scheme would therefore proceed.[36]

Power generation

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The board's generating capacity was mainly provided by the construction of "schemes" of linked hydro-electric stations, with multiple generators located across one or more catchment area. There were also steam driven and diesel engine driven power stations. When the board was first constituted it owned only two power stations: the oil-fired stations at Kirkwall on Orkney and Rothesay on the Isle of Bute.[37]

Hydro-electric power stations

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The following hydro-electric stations were operational prior to nationalisation.[37] Some were transferred to the South of Scotland Board.

Hydro-electric stations operational in 1946
Station Owner Capacity
kW
Commissioned Output (1946)
MWh
Maxwell Town Dumfries Corporation 87 220.6
Loch Luichart Grampian Electricity Supply Co 2035 1926 13,219
Rannoch Grampian Electricity Supply Co 44,520 1930 157,273
Tummel Grampian Electricity Supply Co 23,950 1933 113,081
Glebe Greenoch Corporation 3382 635.2
Bught Inverness Corporation 98 680.7
Inshes Inverness Corporation 26 159.6
Lochaber Lochaber Power Co 55,950 1929 455,385
Tobermory Tobermory Corporation 37 1927 60.3

The principal schemes constructed by the board were:[38]

In 1958 the following hydro-electric stations were in operation:[23][40][41]

Hydro-electric stations (1958 and 1968)
Station Scheme
No.
Capacity
MW
Water head
feet
Commissioned Output (1958)
GWh
Output (1968)
GWh
Sloy 1 130 910 1957 104.88 120
Nostie Bridge (Lochalsh) 1 1.25 490 1947 4.607 6
Morar 1 0.75 16 1948 2.422 3
Pitlochry 2 15 50 1950 52.948 55
Clunie 2 61.2 173 1950 147.398 165
Grudie Bridge (Fannich) 3 24 550 1950 99.487 82
Kerry Falls (Gairloch) 2 1.25 185 1952 2.801 5
Striven (Cowal) 4 and 69 6 403 1951 17.84 19
Fasnakyle (Affric) 7 66 522 1951 209.437 223
Lussa 8 and 68 2.4 380 1952 8.837 10
Shira 12 40 965 1955 45.826 74
Storr Lochs (Skye) 13 2.85 447 1952 5.871 7
Tummel Bridge Grampian 34 173 1933 55.023 120
Rannoch Grampian 48 512 1930 150.174 174
Gaur 15 6.4 92 1953 15.93 17
Luichart 16 24 185 1954 114.743 124
Torr Achilty 16 15 52 1954 29.838 36
Loch Dubh (Ullapool) 20 1.2 543 1954 4.299 5
Errochty 2 75 610 1955 80.2.2 84
Mullardoch Tunnel 7 2.4 1956 1956 6.92 8
Finlarig (Lawers) 18 30 1362 1956 53.747 80
Quoich 24 22 320 1955 90.252 77
Achanalt 2.4 65 1956 6.99 8
Invergarry 23 20 175 1956 72.017 82
Ceannacroc 23 20 296 1956 58.086 73
Allt na Lairige 27 6 817 1956 14.444
Kilmelfort 21 2 365 1956 9.19 9
Small compensation water stations 0.675

Hydro-electric power stations under construction in 1958 were:[23][40]

Hydro-electric stations under construction 1958 (output in 1968)
Station Capacity
MW
Output (1968)
GWh
Sron Mor (Shira) 5 6
Mossford 24 112
Glenmoriston 32 114
Breadalbane
(Killin section)
Lochay 47 160
Lubreoch 4 13
Cashlie 11 25
Breadalbane
(St Fillans section)
St Fillans 21 76
Dalchonzie 4 18
Lednoch 3 5
Lairg 3.5 10
Shin 24 103
Cassley 10 24
Orrin 18 76
Small compensation water stations 3.7

The following additional hydro-electric stations were commissioned in the 1960s.[40][41]

Hydro-electric stations commissioned in the 1960s
Power station Scheme
No.
Commissioned Head of water
m
Catchment
km3
Capacity
MW
Annual output
GWh
Loch Ericht 31 1962 55 89 2.2 11
Kilmorack 30 1962 17 906 20 55
Aigas 30 1962 18 780 20 55
Culligran 30 1962 60 290 24 57
Deanie 30 1963 113 212 38 94
Livishie 23A 1962 259 41 15 24
Inverawe 28 1963 36 839 25 100
Nant 28 1963 172 44 15 27
Chliostair 35 1960 122 8 1 2.4
Gisla 34 1960 47 16 0.54 2
Loch Gair 71 1961 109 62 6 18
Mucomir 26 1962 7 383 1.95 9

By 1968 the installed capacity of all conventional hydro-electric power stations operated by North of Scotland Board was 1047.06 MW, and the total average annual output was 2911.4 GWh.

Cruachan pumped storage scheme

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See main article: Cruachan Power Station

The Cruachan power station (also known as the Cruachan Dam) is a pumped-storage hydroelectric power station commissioned in 1965.[40] It can provide 440 MW of power and has a capacity of 7.1 GWh.

Steam power stations

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There were two steam power stations in 1958.[22]

Steam power stations
Station Steam raising, lb/hr Generating sets Maximum demand, MW Electricity generated, GWh
Aberdeen (Ferryhill) 604,000 2 × 5 MW, 2 × 12.5 MW, 1 × 15 MW, 1 × 6.25 MW, 1 × 1 MW 53.1 65.906
Dundee (Carolina Port) 812,000 1 × 15.625 MW, 2 × 30 MW, 76.8 228.655

Diesel engine stations

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There were nine diesel fuelled power stations in 1958.[22]

Diesel engine stations
Station Engines Power output
MW
Maximum
demand
MW
Total electrical
energy generated 1958
GWh
Bowmore 3 × 0.6 MW, 2 × 0.265 MW 2.33 1.38 4.978
Brodick 1 × 0.88 MW, 1 × 0.685 MW, 1 × 0.6 MW, 1 × 0.425 MW, (1 × 0.135 MW water driven) 3.087 2.18 5.725
Campbeltown 1 × 1 MW, 2 × 0.6 MW, 2 × 0.4 MW 2 × 0.37 MW 3.74 2.71 3.332
Daliburgh 1 × 0.46 MW, 2 × 0.45 MW, 1 × 0.2 MW 1.56 0.730 2.798
Kirkwall 4 × 1 MW, 1 × 0.52 MW, 2 × 2 MW 8.52 4.48 14.807
LerwIck 2 × 2 MW, 3 × 1 MW, 1 × 0.6 MW 7.6 3.985 12.894
Lochalsh 1 × 0.375 MW, 1 × 0.135 MW, 2 × 0.2 MW 0.91 0.59 0.059
Stornoway 2 × 2.04 MW, 1 × 2.0 MW, 3 × 1.0 MW 9.08 5.55 18.963
Tobermory 1 × 0.45 MW, 1 × 0.425 MW, 1 × 0.274 MW, 3 × 0.075 MW 1.375 0.47 1.486

Transmission

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The supply of electricity was through the Highland Grid operating at 132 kV. In 1958 this comprised 1,630 circuit miles with 31 substations. The total length of all mains was 17,369 circuit miles.[22] By April 1989 there were 1,053 miles (1,694 km) of 275 kV lines; 2,115 miles (3,403 km) of 132 kV lines; and 27,550 miles (44,340 km) of lines operating at less than 132 kV.[42]

Distribution area

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Supply to customers was through 13 distribution areas.[22] The areas' supply capacity and key data for 1956 were as follows:

North of Scotland Hydro-electric Board Distribution areas
Distribution area Supply (generating) capacity
MW
Max. load
MW
Total electricity
sold 1956
GWh
Consumers
Aberdeen 57.25 72.7 238.752 74,479
Cowal 2.952
6.0 (hydro-electric)
10.56 36.65 15,308
Dalriada 3.14
2.4 (hydro-electric)
6.658 23.953 7,451
Dundee 45.625 80.97 277.295 66,086
Lewis 7.68 4.73 13.079 7,285
Lochaber 3.5
0.75 (hydro-electric)
3.66 12.735 3,628
Lorne and the Isles 1.56
2.0 (hydro-electric)
6.36 21.893 5,539
North Caledonia 0.12 (hydro-electric) 70.889 210.655 63,289
Orkney 5.04 3.93 11.408 5,123
Perth (city) Electricity imported 13.647 3181 13,725
Shetland 6.2 3.465 9.756 4,651
Skye and Lochalsh 0.91
2.85 (hydro-electric)
2.5 7.81 4,121
South Caledonia 75 + 30 + 6.4 +15 + 48 + 34 (hydro-electric) 70.193 226.956 57,050

Operating data 1949 to 1989

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Key operating data for the North of Scotland Hydro-Electric Board is summarised in the table.[42]

Key operating data for the North of Scotland Hydro-Electric Board
Year Total installed generating capacity, MW Maximum
demand
MW
Customers
Thousands
Employees Capital
expenditure
£ million
Net profit
£ million
1949 251 216 222 2453 13.4 0.097
1959 1047 861 384 3038 13.0 –0.029
1969 1815 992 454 3860 7.8 –1.399
1971 1830 1045 473 3832 11.3 0.093
1972 1821 1289 482 3641 14.4 –3.207
1973 1832 1339 488 3588 16.1 –2.474
1974 2150 1456 477 3673 16.9 –2.725
1975 2150 1498 486 3745 32.2 –2.274
1976 2160 1486 498 3808 70.1 0.103
1977 2176 1614 510 3796 77.2 5.888
1978 2109 1576 520 3910 63.5 1.794
1979 2116 1691 528 4059 47.6 2.065
1980 2116 1695 536 4146 42.7 2.473
1981 2125 1637 543 4115 41.5 11.214
1982 2551 1740 549 4005 32.5 13.217
1983 3173 1443 556 3920 41.9 18.358
1984 3179 1495 563 3840 38.9 12.191
1985 3259 1552 571 3830 38.3 –6.075
1986 3259 1502 578 3767 44.5 5.930
1987 3262 1660 585 3795 54.7 17.298
1988 3265 1486 590 3861 54.0 15.741
1989 3265 1419 597 3917 38.3 0.584

The amount of electricity supplied by the board, in GWh, is shown on the graph.[42]

Dissolution

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North of Scotland Electricity plc was formed in 1989 to acquire the board's assets ahead of privatisation, however the name was later changed to Scottish Hydro-Electric plc. The board was dissolved in March 1990 and privatised in June 1991. The company's head office was moved from Edinburgh to Perth.

A further name change to Scottish and Southern Energy plc was made in December 1998 after the merger with Southern Electric plc. The brand name "Scottish Hydro-Electric" continues to be used for the company's Scottish business.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Hannah, Leslie (1982). Engineers, Managers and Politicians. London: Macmillan. pp. 149–60. ISBN 978-0-333-22087-0.
  2. ^ Miller 2002, p. 16.
  3. ^ Miller 2002, pp. 18–19.
  4. ^ Miller 2002, pp. 19–20.
  5. ^ Miller 2002, p. 20.
  6. ^ Miller 2002, pp. 20–21.
  7. ^ Payne 1988, p. 39.
  8. ^ Miller 2002, p. 21.
  9. ^ Presented to Parliament December 1942 Cmd. 6406, 1943
  10. ^ 387 H.C.Deb., 5th series (1942-43), col 181, quoted in Payne 1988, pp. 40, 297
  11. ^ Payne 1988, pp. 40–42.
  12. ^ Payne 1988, pp. 43–45.
  13. ^ Payne 1988, p. 45.
  14. ^ Payne 1988, pp. 46–48.
  15. ^ Payne 1988, pp. 48–49.
  16. ^ Payne 1988, pp. 50, 298.
  17. ^ Wood 2002, p. 60.
  18. ^ Miller 2002, p. 24.
  19. ^ Payne 1988, p. 50.
  20. ^ Wood 2002, p. 61.
  21. ^ Payne 1988, pp. 53–54.
  22. ^ a b c d e Garrett, Frederick (1959). Garcke's Manual of Electricity Supply vol.56. London: Electrical Press. pp. C-1 to C-18.
  23. ^ a b c d Electrical Journal (1958). Electricity undertakings of the world. London: Benn Brothers. pp. 234–235.
  24. ^ Payne 1988, p. 55.
  25. ^ Miller 2002, p. 26.
  26. ^ Payne 1988, p. 59.
  27. ^ Payne 1988, pp. 60–61.
  28. ^ Payne 1988, pp. 62–63.
  29. ^ Payne 1988, pp. 63–64.
  30. ^ Payne 1988, pp. 64–65.
  31. ^ Payne 1988, p. 65.
  32. ^ Payne 1988, pp. 67–68.
  33. ^ Payne 1988, p. 69.
  34. ^ Payne 1988, pp. 71–72.
  35. ^ Payne 1988, pp. 72–75.
  36. ^ Payne 1988, pp. 75–77.
  37. ^ a b Electricity Commission (1947). Generation of Electricity in Great Britain year ended 31 December 1946. London: HMSO. p. 12.
  38. ^ "Power From the Glens" (PDF). Scottish and Southern Energy. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 18, 2007. Retrieved 2015-04-09.
  39. ^ NoSHEB (1982). "Garry - Moriston" (PDF). North of Scotland Hydro Electric Board. Archived (PDF) from the original on 24 August 2022.
  40. ^ a b c d Lea, K J (March 1969). "Hydro-Electric Power Generation in the Highlands of Scotland". Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers. 46 (46): 155–165. doi:10.2307/621414. JSTOR 621414.
  41. ^ a b Payne 1988, p. 189.
  42. ^ a b c Electricity Council (1990). Handbook of Electricity Supply Statistics. London: Electricity Council. pp. 86–91. ISBN 978-0-85188-122-5.

Bibliography

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  • Electrical Journal (1958). Electricity undertakings of the world. London: Benn Brothers.
  • Garrett, Frederick (1959). Garcke's Manual of Electricity Supply vol.56. London: Electrical Press.
  • Miller, James (2002). The Dam Builders - Power from the Glens. Birlinn. ISBN 978-1-84158-225-2.
  • Payne, Peter L (1988). The Hydro. Aberdeen University Press. ISBN 978-0-08-036584-8.
  • Wood, Emma (2002). The Hydro Boys. Luath Press. ISBN 978-1-84282-016-2.