Ashford Power Station

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Ashford Power Station
Ashford Power Station
CountryEngland
LocationAshford, Kent
Coordinates 51°08′44″N00°52′08″E / 51.14556°N 0.86889°E / 51.14556; 0.86889 Coordinates: 51°08′44″N00°52′08″E / 51.14556°N 0.86889°E / 51.14556; 0.86889
StatusA & B: demolished Peaking: operational
Construction beganA: 1923

B: 1954

Peaking: 2018
Commission date A: 1923

B: 1954

Peaking: 2018
Decommission dateA: 1967 B: 1981
Owner(s)Ashford Urban District Council
(1923–1948)
British Electricity Authority
(1948–1955)
Central Electricity Authority
(1955–1957)
Central Electricity Generating Board
(1958–1981)
Operator(s)As owner
Thermal power station
Primary fuelA: Fuel oil

B: Diesel

Peaking: Natural gas
Turbine technologyReciprocating Engines
Cooling towersB: 1
Cooling sourceA: cooling ponds

B: cooling tower

Peaking: Air cooled heat exchanger
Combined cycle?No
Cogeneration?No
Power generation
Units operationalA: 3 × 300 kW, 1 × 700 kW, 1 × 450 kW

B: 5 × 2 MW

Peaking 14 × 1.5 MW
Make and modelA: Ruston/ English Electric

B: Mirrlees/ Bush

Peaking: Jensbacher
Units decommissionedA & B: all units decommissioned
Nameplate capacity A: 2.05 MW

B: 10 MW

Peaking 21 MW
Capacity factor A: see table in text
Annual net output A & B: see table and graph
[ edit on Wikidata]

Ashford Power Station refers to any of three, engine-driven, electricity generating stations located in Ashford, Kent. Two of the stations, A and B, have been demolished, and one is an operational 21 MW peaking plant.

Contents

Ashford A

Ashford A power station (also known as Ashford Electricity Works) was located in Victoria Road, Ashford. [1] It was adjacent to, and south of, the London to Dover railway, 575 metres north west of Ashford International railway station.

The power station was built in 1923 to provide electricity to the town of Ashford. It was initially owned and operated by Ashford Urban District Council. [2] The plant consisted of Ruston vertical oil engines coupled to three 300 kW and one 700 kW English Electric alternators. There was also one Davey-Paxman 8-cylinder oil engine coupled to a 450 kW English Electric alternator. The total electricity generating capacity was 2.05 MW. The alternators generated electricity at 6.6 kV, Alternating Current, 3-phase, 50 Hz, [2] and supplied electricity through transformer sub-stations to consumers in the local area.

Cooling water for the engines was obtained from, and returned to, cooling water ponds to the south of the site. [1] There were two rectangular fuel oil storage tanks on the north of the site. [1]

From 1926 the station continued to be operated by Ashford Council but was under the direction of the Central Electricity Board. [1] Upon nationalisation of the British electricity industry in 1948 ownership was vested in the British Electricity Authority (1948–55), then the Central Electricity Authority (1955–57), and finally in the Central Electricity Generating Board (CEGB) from 1958. [3]

The power station operator lived in a house (Lindum House) on the site. [1]

The electricity output from the station, over the period 1946–67 was as follows. [4] [5] [6] [7]

Ashford A power station electricity output
Year194619541961196219631964196519661967
Electricity generated, GWh1.820.261.0911.0721.462.940.9291.3710.217
Load as % of output capacity———6.18.332.945.37.81.2

In 1954 the station used 100 tons of fuel. [8] The thermal efficiency of the station in 1961 was 25.64 per cent. [4]

In 1966 the plant generating capacity was down-rated to 1.3 MW. [5]   Ashford A station was decommissioned in late 1967 [5] and was subsequently demolished. [1]

Ashford B

Ashford B power station was built in 1954 adjacent to the A station. It was designed, built and operated by the British Electricity Authority. Ownership was transferred to the Central Electricity Authority in 1955, and finally to the CEGB in 1958. [3]

The prime movers were diesel internal combustion engines connected to alternators. The plant comprised five 2.0 MW Mirrlees, Bickerton and Day diesel generating sets. [9] The contract with Mirrlees was valued at £200,000. [10] Three of the sets were commissioned in October 1954, and the remaining two in the August 1955. [9] The output capacity of the completed B station was 10 MW. The Brush alternators generated electricity at 6.760 kV AC, 3-phase, 50 Hz.

Cooling of the plant was by a single film induced-draught timber cooling tower; the cooling water flow was 160,050 gallons per hour (202 litres/s). [9]

The electricity output from the station, in GWh, over the period 1955–81 was as follows. [4] [5] [11] [6]

The thermal efficiency of the station in 1961 was 33.97 per cent. [4] In 1972 the average load was 31.9 per cent of the maximum output capacity. [5]

In 1973 the CEGB applied for planning consent to construct an additional generating station on the site of the existing B station. [12] A public inquiry was held in July 1974. [12] In the light of the oil crisis of 1973–74 and the consequent economic downturn the plans were not developed any further. [13]

The B station was decommissioned in 1981 [5] and was subsequently demolished. All that remains (in 2019) on the site are the concrete foundations of the buildings. [1]

Ashford Peaking Plant

AMP Clean Energy Limited (formerly Ashford Power, UK) [14] commissioned a 21 MW peaking plant in May 2018. [15] Design and construction of the station on the Kingsnorth industrial estate (TR 00511 40888) in Ashford was managed by Clarke Energy. [14] The plant comprises 14 gas engine and alternator sets, each delivering 1.5 MW of electricity. The engines are GE Jensbacher gas engines fuelled by natural gas. [14] The plant is started-up as requested by the national grid at times of peak demand. This is expected to be for 1,500 to 2,000 hours per year. The plant is unattended and is operated and monitored remotely. [14]

Other developments

In August 2018 Henwood Power Ltd applied for planning permission to build a new Short Term Operating Reserve (STOR) electricity power station on the Henwood industrial estate in Ashford. [16] This would comprise nine natural gas-fired engines located within a former cold store building. The planning application was withdrawn by the applicant in September 2018. [17]

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Ashford Electricity Works and Victoria Park". AbouttheChapmans. 2012. Retrieved 5 February 2020.
  2. 1 2 Garcke, Emile (1950). Garcke's Manual of Electricity Supply vol 47. London: Electrical Press Limited. pp. A-24.
  3. 1 2 The Electricity Council (1987). Electricity supply in the United Kingdom. London: The Electricity Council. ISBN   9780851881058.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Anon. "British Power Stations operating at 31 December 1961". Electrical Review. 1 June 1962: 931.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Central Electricity Generating Board (1964–1982). CEGB Statistical Yearbook (1964-82). London: CEGB. pp. 5–9.
  6. 1 2 GEGB Annual report and accounts, various years
  7. ↑ Electricity Commission, Generation of Electricity in Great Britain year ended 31st December 1946. London: HMSO, 1947.
  8. ↑ "Schedule of power stations as at 31 December 1954". Electrical Review. June 1955: 1123. 24 June 1954.
  9. 1 2 3 Garcke, Emile (1960). Garcke's Manual of Electricity Supply vol 57. Electrical Press Limited. pp. A-26.
  10. ↑ "£200,000 power station contract". The Times. 14 January 1953.
  11. ↑ Garrett, Frederick C., ed. (1959). Garcke's Manual of Electricity Supply (vol. 56). London: Electrical Press. pp. A-28, A-140.
  12. 1 2 Ashford Generating Station, Kent. Application by the CEGB, The National Archive, Kew, Reference: POWE 14/2637
  13. ↑ More, Charles (2009). Black Gold: Britain and Oil in the Twentieth Century. London: Continuum. pp. 139–40. ISBN   9781847250438.
  14. 1 2 3 4 "21MW Peaking Plant Delivered to Ashford Power, UK". Clarke Energy. 22 March 2018. Retrieved 5 February 2020.
  15. ↑ "On demand energy generated in less than two minutes". AMP Clean Energy. 27 November 2018. Retrieved 5 February 2020.
  16. ↑ "Power station could be built in Ashford". Kent online. 31 August 2018. Retrieved 5 February 2020.
  17. ↑ "Ashford Borough Council Planning Application Search. See Application 18/01046/AS". Ashford Borough Council. Retrieved 5 February 2020.
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