Longannet Power Station has dominated the Kincardine skyline for more than 40 years.

Its pronunciation had caused much debate. The name itself comes from the Gaelic Lann na H-Annaide meaning the blade, or peninsula, at the old abandoned church site, dating from the 9th or 10th century.

Construction began in 1964 under the auspices of Robert Matthew and Johnson-Marshall & Partners, covering in total a vast 89-hectare (220 acre) site on the northern banks of the River Forth just to the east of the village.

The land was reclaimed from the river by using ash from the then existing Kincardine power station a few miles away.

The site was chosen as there were existing buildings including munitions bunkers and defences associated with World War Two.

Over the four years or so it took to construct, buildings included a control room, an administration and amenities block, air conditioning plant, boiler houses, bunkers and the main building with the chimney stack being its most dominant feature over the surrounding countryside.

Its projected lifespan was 30 years during which time it would produce electricity by using coal. The plant began generating electricity in 1970, but became fully operational three years later.

At the time it was the largest power station in Europe and was operated by SSEB until 1990 when the industry was privatised. It then fell into the hands of Scottish Power. The distinctive 183m (600 feet) chimney is Scotland's largest free-standing structure.

Thousands of gallons of water were drawn in from the Forth to the four cooling condensers then channelled into a mile-long cooling pipe back into the Forth. Some of the ash produced at the site was recycled and used in the construction industry with the rest piped to ash lagoons in the river and later landscaped.

Coal was delivered to the site by road and rail either from Hunterston on the Clyde or locally with the coal store area able to hold up to two million tonnes.

The plant consumed around four million tonnes of coal per year to produce the 9000GWh of power, generated in the massive turbine hall, per year.

The local Longannet colliery provided coal to the plant until the mine was shut in 2002 following a devastating flood. It was the last deep coal mine in Scotland.

The other local collieries supplying the plant were Bogside (closed 1986), Castlebridge (closed 1999), Castlehill (closed 1990) and Solsgirth (closed 1990).

The 8.8k tunnel between Longannet and Solsgirth contained what was believed to be the longest conveyor belt in the world at the time.