For almost 50 years, Cockenzie Power Station in East Lothian has been a landmark of the area.
But, it will be the end of an era on Saturday, as thousands are expected to gather to watch its demolition.
People will congregate at Edinburgh's Portobello Beach as its distinctive 149-metre-tall twin chimney stacks are brought down at noon, and then witness a second controlled explosion, which will demolish the turbine hall.
Cockenzie, which was decommissioned in March 2013, has been one of the most iconic features of the landscape.
And, ahead of this weekend's moment in history, here are some things you may not know about a site that has filled the skyline for decades.
1. A little bit of history
Opening in 1967, Cockenzie, situated on the south shore of the Firth of Forth, near the town of Cockenzie and Port Seton, east of Edinburgh, was the largest coal-fired power station in Great Britain.
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.
2. Army connections
The site is 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.
3. A weighty question
The concrete chimneys built in time for the coal station’s beginnings all those years ago stand almost 490ft tall and weigh around 3000 tonnes each.
4. Turbine house in numbers
The turbine house is 720ft long and more than 130ft high, containing around 10,000 tonnes of metal.
5. It's a record-breaker
Between 2000 and 2001, Cockenzie generated a record load factor, supplying 3,563 GWh of electricity and burning 1,500,000 tonnes of coal.
6. The station could have powered more than one million homes each year
It generated more than 150 Terawatt Hours of electricity in its 45-year working life - that's enough to power more than one million homes annually.
7. Thousands of locals found employment there
The station has employed 10,000 people through the decades, with most of them coming from the surrounding area.
8. It was the first of its kind on the "merry-go-round" of coal deliveries
The power station was the first to use the "merry-go-round" system of coal deliveries by rail. This system uses hopper wagons which carry around 914 tonnes of coal per train. Coal was also delivered by lorries and is known as 'road borne' coal.
9. The site could have been a cruise ship terminal
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 is said to be the “optimal” site for a port because it has little tidal movement, strong rail links and room for expansion.
10. The finish line
The demolition process will be started by Donald McCulloch, who won a charity raffle organised by the Longnidddry and District Rotary Club and will press the button that will signal the beginning of the end.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here