§ Mr. Eadieasked the Secretary of State for Scotland what power stations are likely now to go out of commission as a consequence of Longannet power station starting to generate at full capacity.
§ Mr. Gordon CampbellNone.
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§ Mr. Eadieasked the Secretary of State for Scotland how many acres of land reclamation will result directly or indirectly as a result of Longannet power station; how much disposal ash will be involved; what the cost will be; and when it will be completed.
§ Mr. Gordon CampbellTwo hundred and fifty acres will be provided at a capital cost for the retaining wall and pipeline of £1 million. About 1 million tons of ash is at present produced yearly, of which 300,000 tons is made available to the building and construction industry. The disposal site should last the life of the station, and it will become available for use progressively.
§ Mr. Eadieasked the Secretary of State for Scotland whether any capital sums have been involved in constructing the Longannet power station to make it dual fired; and what was the cost.
§ Mr. Gordon CampbellNone. Lon-gannet is not dual fired.
§ Mr. Eadieasked the Secretary of State for Scotland what is the estimated life of the newly constructed coal-fired power station at Longannet.
§ Mr. Gordon CampbellAbout 35 years.
§ Mr. Eadieasked the Secretary of State for Scotland what is the yearly consumption of coal at Longannet power station when generating at full capacity; how much will be mined associated with the complex and how much outside the complex; and what mining areas the coal will come from.
§ Mr. Gordon CampbellAbout 5 million tons. The sources of supply of coal are for determination by the National Coal Board but I understand that at present rather less than half comes from the adjacent mine complex and the balance from the West Fife coalfields. This is in accordance with the plans formulated in 1963.
§ Mr. Eadieasked the Secretary of State for Scotland how the costs of construction and generation per kilowatt compare between Hunterston B nuclear power station and Longannet coal-fired power station.
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§ Mr. Adam Hunterasked the Secretary of State for Scotland (1) how the final cost of the Longannet power station project compares with the present-day cost per kilowatt and upwards for nuclear power stations;
(2) how the final cost of the Longannet power station project compares with the present-day cost per kilowatt and upwards for new oil-fired power stations.
§ Mr. Gordon CampbellThe capital cost per kilowatt installed at Longannet is £48.3. No comparison with Hunterston "B" nuclear power station can be made as construction of that station is incomplete and final costs are not yet known. At present-day construction prices the South of Scotland Electricity Board would expect the capital cost of a large coal-fired station to be about 40 per cent. less than a nuclear station of equal capacity and an oil-fired station about 50 per cent. less; but the cost of electricity to the consumer reflects running costs as well as capital costs and these are substantially lower for nuclear stations than for coal or oil-fired stations.
§ Mr. Adam Hunterasked the Secretary of State for Scotland how many employees were employed in the construction of the Longannet power station.
§ Mr. Gordon CampbellAbout 2,500 at the peak.
§ Mr. Adam Hunterasked the Secretary of State for Scotland what was the final cost of the completed project of Longannet power station.
§ Mr. Gordon Campbell£116.5 million.
§ Mr. Adam Hunterasked the Secretary of State for Scotland what will be the output capacity of Longannet power station compared with existing power stations.
§ Mr. Gordon Campbell2,304 MW, compared with about 3,500 MW for all other SSEB power stations.
§ Mr. Adam Hunterasked the Secretary of State for Scotland how many permanent jobs will be available in the new Longannet power station.
§ Mr. Gordon CampbellAbout 660. As stated by the Government of the day310W in 1963 a large number of jobs in the Scottish coal industry are also involved.
§ Mr. Adam Hunterasked the Secretary of State for Scotland how long it took to construct the Longannet power station.
§ Mr. Gordon CampbellConstruction started in January 1964, and I paid an official visit to the site soon afterwards as Joint Under-Secretary of State at the Scottish Office.