It was situated on the south shore of the Firth of Forth, near the town of Cockenzie and Port Seton, 8 mi (13 km) east of the Scottish capital of Edinburgh.

In 2005 a WWF report named Cockenzie as the UK's least carbon-efficient power station, in terms of carbon dioxide released per unit of energy generated.

Under a design by the firm of celebrated architect Sir Robert Matthew, construction of Cockenzie power station began in 1959 on the site of the former Preston Links Colliery.

[1][7] The site is also thought to have been the hiding place of General John Cope after the defeat of his army at the Battle of Prestonpans on 21 September 1745.

[8] In 2000-01, Cockenzie generated a record load factor, supplying 3,563 GWh of electricity and burning 1,500,000 tonnes of coal.

[3] Coal was originally supplied to the station directly from the deep mines of the neighbouring Midlothian Coalfield, but these have since been exhausted or closed.

Subsequently coal was supplied from open cast mines in the Lothians, Fife, Ayrshire and Lanarkshire.

[3] The coal plant and storage bing were situated on the opposite side of B1348 road between Prestonpans and Cockenzie and Port Seton, and the main station.

Silica particles leave scale deposits on the boiler pipes which acts as an insulator, reducing heat transfer from the furnace to the water inside.

The demineralised water was then stored in large tanks inside the main station, ready to be used in the boilers.

This speed drove the alternator and gave a frequency of 50 cycles per second (Hz) and allowed connection to the National Grid.

[3] Controls ensured the discharged seawater was kept close to the temperature of the sea, to avoid creating a 'tropical' environment and upsetting the local ecosystem.

The station's electrostatic precipitators captured fly ash from the flue gases, preventing it from entering the atmosphere.

Ash from the station was sold through the ScotAsh company, a joint venture between Scottish Power and Blue Circle.

Any remaining ash was piped to the large lagoons in the nearby town of Musselburgh, where it was capped and planted, and used as a nature reserve.

[3] The coal-fired power station was forced to close due to the Large Combustion Plant Directive (LCPD).

This was an EU directive that aims to reduce acidification, ground level ozone and particulates by controlling the emissions of sulfur dioxide, oxides of nitrogen and dust from large combustion plants.

Natural gas is a much more efficient fuel than coal and would have created less than half the carbon and nitrogen dioxide emissions compared to the old power station.

If the new station had been built, it would have required a 17 km (11 mi) gas pipeline from East Fortune, to supply it with fuel.

The new 1,000 megawatt (MW) CCGT power station would have created up to 1,000 jobs in demolition and construction and 50 full-time positions when completed.

A separate application for a 17 km (11 mi) pipeline from the existing gas network at East Fortune to the new power station was also approved.

In the 1990s, leading maritime expert Professor Alf Baird was hired by ScottishPower to investigate the case for a £30 million marine terminal to replace Cockenzie Power Station that would bring the world’s biggest cruise ship companies to the East Lothian community.

Cockenzie was said to be the "optimal" site for a port because it has little tidal movement, strong rail links and room for expansion.

While ships can already dock at Leith, Rosyth and Hound Point, these locations are thought to lack the necessary infrastructure to cater for large cruise liners.