Electricity Supply in the South of Scotland

The South of Scotland Electricity Board with an installed capacity of 3850 MW of generating plant and a maximum demand of 3460 MW is about the same size as many North American undertakings, and information regarding design and operating practices peculiar to this Board may be of interest. The organization and system of this all-purpose Board, with a mixture of conventional, gas turbine, nuclear, and hydro plant is therefore briefly described. Information concerning availability is provided. Then an indication is given of the Board´s plans for future extensions and choice of fuels, having regard to the relatively high proportion of nuclear plant already supplying the system. In 1967¿1968 22 percent of units sold came from this source. An account is given of the standards of security of supply which are a guide for the design of the transmission and distribution systems and also the basis of interconnection with neighboring systems. Some of the switching arrangements are described, including the use of switching isolators. Finally the results of operating experience in the form of fault statistics and costs are dealt with.