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Boiler house demolished at Longannet in Fife in controlled explosion

The boiler house was demolished on Thursday morning

The boiler house at the closed Longannet Power Station in Fife has been demolished in a controlled explosion.

Charges were used to bring down the building at the site of Scotland's last coal-fired power station.

The boiler house is the last major structure to be brought down ahead of the demolition of the chimney, expected later this year.

Longannet first began generating back in 1970.

Officials from the site's owner, Scottish Power, said contractors Brown and Mason had conducted the demolition.

ScottishPower LongannetScottishPower
The chimney at Longannet will be demolished later this year

Keith Anderson, CEO of Scottish Power said: "In 2016 we made the decision to close Longannet after over 40 years of generation.

"This step marked our commitment, and that of our parent company Iberdrola, to decarbonise the economy.

"The fight against climate change has never been more important."

At full production, Longannet could produce enough electricity to power two million homes on average each year.

At 2.4GW, the site was Europe's largest coal-fired power station when first built and remained Scotland's largest coal-fired power station until its closure.