The former Cockenzie Power Station will be the location of two offshore wind substations, one for Inch Cape Offshore Wind Farm and one for Seagreen Wind Farm. Both substations will connect the offshore wind farms to the National Grid.
The 24-hectare site is near the southern shore of the Firth of Forth zone. The site is also close to the town of Cockenzie and Port Seton in East Lothian County.
In 2013, Scottish Power decommissioned the former 1.2 GW coal power plant. The lot is vacant despite many plans after demolishing the old power plant.
The location is strategic for creating employment opportunities for the surrounding communities.
East Lothian Coal Plant
The former Cockenzie Power Station was a 1.2 GW coal-fired power plant located in East Lothian Council, Scotland. South of Scotland Electricity Board operated the power plant, which transferred ownership to Scottish Power in 1991 after the privatization of the industry.
Scottish Power decommissioned the power plant in 2015. Some portions of the site are under development for offshore wind farm substations.
Closure of Cockenzie Power Station Site
The coal-fired power plant was officially closed in 2013. In 2015, the EU’s Large Combustion Plant Directive (LCPD) directed the demolition of the structures of the power plant. LCPD requires EU member countries to limit acidification and ground-level ozone from combustion plants that are 50 MW or higher.
Who owns Cockenzie Power Station?
In 2018 after Scottish Power demolished the Cockenzie Power Station, East Lothian Council purchased the site from them.
Now the council-owned site is considered significant in promoting the economic growth of the community and local businesses.
The site is also potentially going to be the site to bring offshore wind energy to the national grid via transmission infrastructure.
Seagreen Alpha and Seagreen Bravo
SSE Renewables and TotalEnergies will develop a substation at the site to link two offshore wind farms–Seagreen Alpha and Seagreen Bravo–to the National Grid.
Only 36 turbines of the two wind farms will connect to the proposed Cockenzie Substation.
Initial consultation on the design of the substation by the company sparked local concern after the initial plan covered a frequented recreational site between Prestonpans Council and Cockenzie.
According to the Local Democracy Reporter, the revised proposal of the substation will only develop the parts outside the power station’s main footprint, which is atop a former gasholder site. A temporary car wash business is using the gasholder site at the moment.
The second proposal saw no objections from local community councils in 2021. However, the new bid will permanently divert public walking paths. Thus, new walking lanes will be required to connect neighboring Wind Park with lands going to the south.
Inch Cape Offshore Limited
Scottish Ministers in 2019 gave Inch Cape Offshore Limited (ICOL) planning permission to build its substation in the area of the former Cockenzie Power Plant. In the same year, ICOL purchased a portion of the site from the East Lothian Council.
ICOL will benefit from the existing National Grid connection at the location by using the site. The substation and associated infrastructure will connect the offshore wind farm, which is 15 kilometers off the Angus Coast. Early on-site works will begin in 2023.
Other Proposals for the Site
The coastal site had also temporarily become a proposed site for a Combined Cycle Gas Turbine which eventually did not push through.
A proposal for a cruise terminal to replace the power station, complete with a retail and visitor center, industrial and business park, and eco-village, was considered in the 1990s but was eventually shelved. Developers revisited the plans in 2013 and 2015, but it has been contentious between the local councils.
The benefits of a cruise terminal for the local community range from £66million in investments to 3,300 jobs. East Lothian Council reflected these numbers on their Cockenzie Masterplan in 2017.
The East Lothian Council conducted a feasibility study in 2019 to study the economic opportunities of the cruise terminal. However, councilors from Prestonpans Community and Cockenzie and Seton have achieved no resolution on the matter.