The Galloway hydro-electric power scheme is a network of dams and hydro-electric

Hydroelectricity

Hydroelectricity is the term referring to electricity generated by hydropower; the production of electrical power through the use of the gravitational force of falling or flowing water. It is the most widely used form of renewable energy...

 power station

Power station

A power station is an industrial facility for the generation of electric energy....

s in Galloway

Galloway

Galloway is an area in southwestern Scotland. It usually refers to the former counties of Wigtownshire and Kirkcudbrightshire...

, south west Scotland

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

. It was built between 1930 and 1936.

The generating stations draw water from the River Ken

Water of Ken

The Water of Ken is a river in Galloway, south-west Scotland. It rises on Blacklorg Hill, north-east of Cairnsmore of Carsphairn in the Carsphairn hills, and flows south-westward into the Glenkens valley, passing through Carsfad and Earlstoun lochs, both of which are dammed to supply the Galloway...

, River Dee

River Dee, Galloway

The River Dee, in south-west Scotland, flows from its source in Loch Dee amongst the Galloway Hills, firstly to Clatteringshaws Loch, then in to Loch Ken, where it joins the Water of Ken. From there, the Dee flows southwards to Kirkcudbright, and into Kirkcudbright Bay to reach the Solway. The...

 and River Doon

River Doon

The River Doon is a river in South Ayrshire, Scotland. The river flows 23 miles from Loch Doon, joining the Firth of Clyde just south of Ayr. Its course is generally north-westerly, passing near to the town of Dalmellington, and through the villages of Patna, Dalrymple, and Alloway, birthplace...

 through reservoirs at Loch Doon

Loch Doon

Loch Doon is a body of water, in Carrick, Scotland. The River Doon issues from its northern end, while the loch itself receives waters from Loch Enoch via Eglin Lane....

, Kendoon, Carsfad, Clatteringshaws

Clatteringshaws Loch

Clatteringshaws Loch is a reservoir in the Dumfries and Galloway district of southern Scotland. It was created by damming the Galloway River Dee as part of the Galloway Hydro Electric Scheme....

, and Tongland

Tongland

Tongland is a small village about 2 miles north of Kirkcudbright, south west Scotland. It lies on the west bank of the Dee near its confluence with the Tarff Water.-History:...

. The unusual modernist

Modern architecture

Modern architecture is generally characterized by simplification of form and creation of ornament from the structure and theme of the building. It is a term applied to an overarching movement, with its exact definition and scope varying widely...

 stations were designed by Scottish civil engineer, Sir Alexander Gibb

Alexander Gibb

Brigadier-General Sir Alexander Gibb GBE CB FRS was a Scottish civil engineer.Gibb was born in Broughty Ferry, Dundee, the son of the civil engineer, Alexander Easton Gibb, and the grandson of John Gibb, a founder member of the Institution of Civil Engineers...

.

The scheme, which is today operated by Scottish Power

Scottish Power

ScottishPower Ltd. is a vertically integrated energy company with its headquarters in Glasgow, Scotland. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange and was once a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index but in 2006 it became a subsidiary of the Spanish utility Iberdrola...

, can produce a total peak power of around 106 megawatts.

History

The scheme was authorized by the Galloway Water Power Act on 10 May 1929, by which the Galloway Water Power Company was incorporated. Chairman of the board was former colonial administrator Lord Meston

James Meston, 1st Baron Meston

James Scorgie Meston, 1st Baron Meston KCSI, VD , was a prominent British civil servant, financial expert and businessman. He served as Lieutenant-Governor of the United Provinces of Agra and Oudh from 1912 to 1918....

. Also on the board was Robert Brand

Robert Henry Brand, 1st Baron Brand

Robert Henry Brand, 1st Baron Brand CMG was a British civil servant, businessman, and Fellow of All Souls College, Oxford.-Background and education:...

, managing director of the project's underwriter, Lazard Brothers and Company

Lazard

Lazard Ltd is the parent company of Lazard Group LLC, a global, independent investment bank with approximately 2,300 employees in 42 cities across 27 countries throughout Europe, North America, Asia, Australia, Central and South America...

.

Design was carried out by William McLellan

William McLellan

Colonel William McLellan CBE was a Scottish electrical engineer. Born in Palnackie, McLellan joined Charles Merz in 1902 to form the Merz & McLellan consulting partnership. In the 1920s, then Colonel McLellan, he designed the Galloway Hydros hydroelectric power scheme.-References:***...

 of Merz & McLellan

Merz & McLellan

Merz and McLellan was a leading British electrical engineering consultancy based in Newcastle.-History:The firm was founded by Charles Merz and William McLellan in Newcastle upon Tyne in 1902 when McLellan joined Merz's existing firm established in 1899...

. Construction began three years later in 1932 and was completed in 1936. The scheme was made viable by the recent formation of the National Grid which made generation of electricity in remote areas useful. Hydro power was particularly helpful to this grid because of its ability to be turned on and off very quickly to meet peak demands (in contrast to oil and coal stations), and to meet the natural increase during the more energy demanding winter months.

The total cost of the scheme was around three million pounds. At a cost of £29 per kilowatt of installed capacity, they were some of the least costly stations ever built in the UK.

The scheme was extended in 1984 with the addition of the Drumjohn power station which made use of the existing needle valve where the water from Loch Doon and the Deuch feed into the Dee. This station has a capacity of just 2.3 megawatts, but was constructed largely using existing infrastructure.

Architecture

The stations are generally white, Modernist structures, highly glazed and with large airy turbine halls. The designs were stylistically advanced for their time and can be viewed as some of Scotland's earliest Modern buildings. The credit for the design is given to Alexander Gibb and Partners

Sir Alexander Gibb & Partners

Sir Alexander Gibb & Partners was a British engineering consultancy initially based in Westminster, London until 1974 when it relocated to Reading, Berkshire.The firm was founded by Scottish engineer, Sir Alexander Gibb in 1922....

 however is seems likely that the design received input from H. O. Tarbolton, the architectural advisor to the scheme's 'Amenities Committee'. This Committee was set up to "make to the Company such recommendations as they may think are reasonable and proper for the preservation ot the beauty of the scenery" (from the 1929 Galloway water power act). Tarbolton was designer of the Pitlochry power station which bears some striking similarities to the Galloway turbine halls. Whilst no direct credit for the design work can be given to him, it is unlikely that he had no influence on the outcome.

In their book 'Power from water' (1960), two partners of Alexander Gibb and Partners , A.O.L. Paton, and J Guthrie Brown (the latter of whom is known to have worked on the Galloway scheme) write that "The architecture of the power stations, under the watchful eye of the amenity committee...was given the most careful attention."

The buildings are now listed.

In great contrast to the bright pristine nature of the stations, the dams are organic and entwined with the natural rock. They are generally arch dam

Arch dam

An arch dam is a type of dam that is curved and commonly built with concrete. The arch dam is a structure that is designed to curve upstream so that the force of the water against it, known as hydrostatic pressure, presses against the arch, compressing and strengthening the structure as it pushes...

s, curved in plan, bearing onto the side walls of the valleys except in those dams where only one side of the valley is suitable for bearing. In these latter cases, the end of the dam straightens out, and the last section of gravity dam (where the weight of the dam itself resists the force of the water) then acts like a buttress

Buttress

A buttress is an architectural structure built against or projecting from a wall which serves to support or reinforce the wall...

to the more efficient arch dam.

Perceptions of the scheme

Today the dams are well liked and a source of pride to the people of Galloway and of course are still generating environmentally friendly electricity. However they were not universally admired when they were first built, as local poet W.G.M. Dobie wrote:

A raider comes today who kills

The glories of our glens and hills

With unheroic acts and bills

and "Private Legislation"

The Company promoters pen

Will Dam the Deugh and dam the Ken

and Dam the Dee - oh Dam the men

Who Plan such desecration!

Generating stations

The six generating stations, from north to south, are:

Name	Year completed	Output	Location	Head
Drumjohn	1985	2 MW	55°14′54"N 4°19′35"W
Kendoon	1936	24 MW	55°09′48"N 4°11′28"W	150 feet
Carsfad	1936	12 MW	55°08′38"N 4°11′25"W	65 feet
Earlstoun	1936	14 MW	55°06′38"N 4°10′31"W	67 feet
Glenlee	1935	24 MW	55°05′57"N 4°11′11"W	380 feet
Tongland	1935	33 MW	54°51′36"N 4°02′02"W	106 feet

Sources

• Hill, George (1984). Tunnel and Dam: The Story of the Galloway Hydros. South of Scotland Electricity Board.

External links

• Galloway Hydros Visitor Centre from Scottish Power
• Power From Scotland's Lochs An account of the Galloway Scheme from 1937