HERITAGE ELECTRICITY AND THE GREAT WAR COOKIE POLICY Close SSE ABOUT US WHAT WE DO BEING RESPONSIBLE INVESTORS CAREERS NEWS & VIEWS Twitter Vimeo Heritage Electricity and the Great War SSE.COM ABOUT US HERITAGE OUR HERITAGE SSE was formed in 1998 following the merger of Scottish Hydro Electric and Southern Electric, but it can trace its heritage back far further. SSE played a proud role in Scotland’s hydro revolution, which began in 1943 with the Hydro Electric Development Act. This delivered electricity across the Highlands and dramatically improved the lives of hundreds of thousands of Scots. But building dams and power stations across Scotland’s rugged landscape was no easy feat. For example, workers at St Fillans set a world tunnelling record in 1955, when they ground their way through 557 feet of rock in just a week. By the mid 1960's, Scotland could boast of 56 dams connected by over 600km of rock tunnel, aqueducts and pipelines. Electricity has transformed the way we all live our lives. It took over many of the domestic chores, helped Britain win the First World War and lit up the night in our towns and cities. Today SSE remains the UK’s largest generator of renewable energy, in keeping with its historic aim to provide safe and reliable energy for all. By 1964 over 90% of the north of Scotland was ‘on grid’ compared with 40% in 1944. For the first time many Highlanders could take advantage of electrical appliances such as this cottage having a cooker delivered. By the end of the major hydro development in the 1960s Scotland had 56 dams, including Pitlochry (above) connected by 600km of rock tunnels, aqueducts and pipelines. THE SSE HERITAGE COLLECTION Explore the wonder, history and creativity of our heritage collection online at sseheritage.org.uk. SEARCH SSE Copyright SSE © 2014 Contact Us Media Privacy Policy Cookie Policy SiteMap Potential suppliers