Grangemouth

Burgh Power Supply

At the beginning of the twentieth century Grangemouth was a rapidly growing town and therefore ripe for the introduction of an electricity supply as the necessary infrastructure could be incorporated into this expansion.  The Burgh Commissioners took a keen interest in developments in the electricity supply of neighbouring towns and looked on avidly as Falkirk, Bo’ness and Denny all went down different supply routes.  DA Donald, the burgh surveyor was tasked with producing a report on the question for Grangemouth and JB McIndoe of Coatbridge was hired as the consulting electrical engineer.  The report came out in April 1910 and recommended the approach which was closest to that taken by Denny which was to buy in a bulk supply from the Bonnybridge Power Station of the Scottish Central Power Company.  That Company was also to execute the ground works.

The main purpose of the supply was to provide lighting for the streets and so it was considered advisable to light a compact area, and the following streets were suggested: Lumley Street, from Bo’ness Road to Wallace Street, 8 lamps of 50 candle power and 3 of 100 candle power; Dundas Street, from Bo’ness Road to Wallace Street. 9 lamps of 50 candle power and 2 of 100 candle power; Old Bo’ness Road, 2 lamps of 50 candle power and l of 100 candle power; Station Brae, 4 lamps of 50 candle power and 1 of 100 candle power; Bo’ness Road, from Charing Cross to Paris Street, 10 of 50 candle power, 5 of 100 candle power, and 1 of 300 candle power – making altogether 33 lamps of 50 candle power, 12 of 100 candle power, and 1 of 300 candle power, the latter of which it was proposed to place at Charing Cross.  The lamps referred to in the above streets, burning for a total of 3,100 hours each, would consume £102 worth of current at 2d per unit, being thus slightly in excess of the amount contracted for.  The use of metallic filament (Tungsten) lamps of the Osram or similar make was recommended, and at street corners 100 candle power was to be used and at other parts 50 candle power.  The use of arc lamps was considered inadvisable, as the lighting of any given area by that means would considerably increase the cost.  For the same reason some lights were to be switched off at midnight.

Whilst Falkirk had rejected overhead wires from an early stage, Grangemouth took Denny’s route in embracing them.  Not only did this mean a lower capital expenditure but it had the advantage of allowing the use of special wires for the street lighting, thus enabling the lamps to be controlled from one or two points at which clock-controlled switches could be fitted, thereby reducing the manual attendance to a minimum.  A Provisional Lighting order was obtained by Grangemouth Council in 1910.

A central site was required for the sub-station and so the SCEP Co chose one on the Station Brae almost opposite to the railway station belonging to the Caledonian Railway Co.  From here it could feed both the old and new towns.  Construction began in May and the substation was ready by early August.  Laying the main cables began in the last week of July.  Four miles of main cables were laid underneath the centre of the footpaths with the work supervised by the burgh surveyor.  The lights were turned on by the end of the year.

Grangemouth was quick to realise the importance of black-out precautions in the First World War – being a coastal port it was particularly vulnerable.  In February 1915 the proprietors of the picture houses were requested not to light their outside lights; the large electric lamp at Charing Cross was turned off for the duration, but the two side brackets remained; and the clocks at the Institute and Commercial Bank went unlit.  The Scottish Central Electric Power Company was asked to arrange for having the whole of the street lights switched off from the sub-power station when warning was given to the man in charge to do so.  To ensure that this was done, the inspector of police was to arrange for special constables to take steps to have the street lamps put out when a warning was received.  Shopkeepers were to reduce the lights from their shop windows and doors.  These were just preliminary precautions and as the war progressed and the threat from airships increased they were superseded by national legislation. The reliance of Grangemouth upon electrical energy was emphasised in August 1931 when the power was temporarily cut and widespread water inundation resulted from the inactivity of the flood-prevention pumps.  Over the years the number of sub-stations was multiplied in order to supply the new industries locating in the town.  The growth in the load is illustrated in the following table:

YEAR19491950195119521953195419551956195719581959
LOAD (kVA)350039004500510056006000650068009000940012900

In 1958 a new substation providing a capacity of 10,000kVA at 11,000 volts was built in Earls Road, and two similar substations with capacities of 14,000kVA and 10,000kVA were erected in 1959 in proximity to large industrial concerns at the east end of the town.  A further substation at Wholeflats was commissioned in 1962 with a capacity of 120,000kVA, and others followed.  By this time Grangemouth was part of the South of Scotland Electricity Board’s area.

G.B. Bailey, 2025