Bradford power station

Last updated

Bradford Power Station
Bradford power station
Location within Bradford
Official nameValley Road Power Station
CountryEngland
Location Bradford, West Yorkshire
Coordinates 53°48′11″N1°45′15″W / 53.802947°N 1.754141°W / 53.802947; -1.754141 Coordinates: 53°48′11″N1°45′15″W / 53.802947°N 1.754141°W / 53.802947; -1.754141
StatusDecommissioned and demolished
Construction began1896
Commission date 1897
Decommission date1976
Operator(s)Bradford Corporation
(1897–1948)
British Electricity Authority
(1948–1955)
Central Electricity Authority
(1955–1957)
Central Electricity Generating Board
(1958–1976)
Thermal power station
Primary fuelCoal
Power generation
Nameplate capacity 70 MW
Annual net output 79.655 GWh (1971)
[ edit on Wikidata]

Bradford Power Station (also known as Valley Road Power Station) [1] was an electricity generating site located on Valley Road in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. The primary source of fuel was coal which was railed into the sidings adjacent to the Bradford Forster Square to Shipley railway line. The plant operated for 79 years and had cooling towers constructed from wood and was noted for its 300-foot (91 m) chimney that was supposed to vent smoke away from the valley floor in Bradford Dale that the power station was located on.

Contents

The commissioning of a power station in Bradford as operated by the Bradford Corporation, made it the first municipal supplier of electricity in the United Kingdom.

History

In 1882, the United Kingdom Government passed the Electric Lighting Act. [2] This allowed individuals, private companies and corporations the right to build and operate their own power generating sites. [3] The Bradford Corporation, who also supplied water and other services to the City of Bradford, applied for a license and were granted one in 1883, though they did not commission anything until 1887 when a small generating site was built on Bolton Road. [4] This made the Bradford Corporation the first municipal provider of electricity in the United Kingdom. [5] In 1889, the power was used in the private homes of 43 consumers. In 1897 the plant had a generating capacity of 2019 kW and the maximum load was 1123 kW. A total of 977.12 MWh of electricity was sold which powered 68,843 lamps, this provided an income to the corporation of £18,552-12-7d. [6]

By 1960, the power station on Valley Road was supplying electricity to over 134,000 homes. [7]

The first conversion of an urban tramway system from horse to electric power was in Bradford in 1892 supplied from Bolton Road. [8]

By the middle of the 1890s, it was clear that the original site in Bolton Road was not capable of generating the electrical needs of the growing city and so another site was commissioned between Canal Road and Valley Road in the north of the city [9] which adjoined the Leeds and Bradford Railway lines approaching Forster Square station. [10] The foundation stone was laid in June 1896 [11] with Bradford Power Station opening a year later in 1897. [12] The power station's location in the north end of the city, low in the valley of Bradforddale, meant that a 300-foot (91 m) chimney was constructed to vent the smoke away from the valley floor. [13] The valley floor was heavily polluted by industries burning low carbon coal, so an order was instituted before the power station was built stipulating that chimneys were to be at least 90 feet (27 m) in height. [14]

In 1911 the first electric trolley buses were introduced Bradford and Leeds. [15]

By 1923 the generating plant comprised both AC and DC machinery. The AC plant included three 3,000 kW, one 5,000 kW and two 12,000 kW turbo-alternators (a total of 38,000 kW) which supplied 3-phase, 50 Hz AC at 400 and 230 Volts. [16] The 230 and 460 volt DC supply was generated by a 1,000 kW reciprocating machine. In 1923 the maximum load on the system was 32,640 kW from 75,175 connections from consumers. The total number of units sold that year was 65,456,551 kWh raising £440,091. The surplus of revenue over expenses was £231,871. [16]

In 1931 a topping turbine was installed at Valley Road. [15] This was an English Electric Company 2.5 MW, 6,000 rpm machine. It used steam at 1,100 psi and 800 °F (75.9 bar and 427 °C), which exhausted to existing steam mains at 205 psi (14.1 bar). [15]

A new turbo power generator was installed on the site in 1930. It was named Princess Mary and was unveiled by its namesake Princess Mary. This made Bradford Power station the most powerful generating concern under local authority control at that time. [17] The power station was extended in 1939 and again in 1947, so that by its closure in 1976, it was capable of generating 70 megaWatts of power. [18] It was noted for its 12 Davenport Towers (cooling towers constructed of wood, which at the Bradford site were over 140-foot (43 m) high, some of the highest noted in England). [10] [note 1] [19] [20] The timber towers had a capacity of 5.335 million gallons per hour (6.74 m3/s). [21] By the time of its closure, the power station also had one conventional concrete cooling tower at the northern end of the site besides retaining many of the original wooden towers. [22] The concrete tower had a capacity of 1.25 million gallons per hour (1.58 m3/s). [21]

The power station consumed 200 tonnes (220 tons) of coal per day which also resulted in over 3,000,000 imperial gallons (14,000,000 l; 3,600,000 US gal) of water being used through the system. [13] Coal was railed into the site via a conveyor system located on the western side of the station via the Midland Railway sidings in Valley Road. [23]

Upon nationalisation of the British electricity supply industry in 1948 the ownership of Bradford power station was vested in the British Electricity Authority, and subsequently the Central Electricity Authority and the Central Electricity Generating Board (CEGB). [15] The electricity distribution and sales functions were vested in the Yorkshire Electricity Board.

By the late 1950s the station comprised six Babcock & Wilcox boilers with a total evaporative capacity of 1,080,000 pounds per hour (136.1 kg/s) operating at 650 psi at 850 °F (44.8 bar at 454 °C). [21] There were five turbo-alternators: one 20 MW and one 30 MW English Electric (6.6 kV); one 30 MW English Electric (33 kV); one 22.5 MW (6.6 kV) and one 22.5 MW (33 kV) Parsons sets.

The output of the station in the late 1950s and early 1960s was: [21] [24]

Bradford power station output GWh
High pressure stationLow pressure station
1953/4277.7533.98
1954/5319.0941.32
1955/6276.0128.68
1956/7214.5211.57
1957/8142.1315.85
Combined output
1960/1244.85
1961/2261.09
1962/3263.38
1966/7296.19

In 1971 the station had an installed capacity of 75 MW including one 30 MW generator and several smaller machines. [25] The boilers had an output capacity of 1,080,000 pounds per hour (136 kg/s) of steam at 625 psi (43.1 bar) and 441 °C. In 1971 the station delivered 79.66 GWh of electricity. [25]

Retail units near the site of the former power station Retail Park off Valley Road - geograph.org.uk - 416689.jpg
Retail units near the site of the former power station

The power station was given a 12 month notice of closure in October 1975, with full closure being effected in October 1976. [26] The site was demolished in 1978 and is now occupied by commercial and industrial units. [27]

Notes

  1. ↑ Davenport Towers were so called as they were constructed by Davenport Engineering who were located in Harris Street, Bradford.

Related Research Articles

Brimsdown Power Station Former coal-fired power station in England

Brimsdown Power Station was a coal-fired power station on the Lee Navigation at Brimsdown in Enfield, North London. The station had seven cooling towers which were visible from a wide area.

West Ham Power Station Former coal-fired power station in London, England

West Ham Power Station was a coal-fired power station on Bow Creek at Canning Town, in east London. It was often referred to informally as Canning Town Power Station.

Little Barford Power Station

Little Barford Power Station is a gas-fired power station just north of the village of Little Barford in Bedfordshire, England. It lies just south of the A428 St Neots bypass and east of the Wyboston Leisure Park. The River Great Ouse runs alongside. It was formerly the site of two coal-fired power stations, now demolished.

Rotherham power station was a coal-fired power station sited close to the centre of Rotherham in South Yorkshire.

North Tees Power Station

North Tees Power Station refers to a series of three coal-fired power stations on the River Tees at Billingham in County Durham. Overall, they operated from 1921 until 1983, and the C station, the last on the site, was demolished in 1987. Billingham Biomass Power Station is to be built on their site.

Chadderton Power Station Series of two coal-fired power stations

Chadderton Power Station refers to a series of two coal-fired power stations, which were situated at Chadderton, Greater Manchester in North West England.

Stuart Street Power Station was a coal-fired power station in Bradford, Manchester, England.

Doncaster Power Station

Doncaster Power Station refers to two coal-fired electricity generating stations situated in the centre of Doncaster in South Yorkshire, England. Doncaster A provided electricity to the town from 1900 to 1958, and the B station from 1953 to 1983.

Acton Lane Power Station was a power station in London NW10. The station, also known as Willesden power station, was located to the south of the Euston to Birmingham railway on a site bounded by Acton Lane, the Grand Union Canal and the Dudding Hill railway line. In later years the site was extended to the south side of the canal. The entire site is now occupied by Willesden Grid Supply Point buildings.

Hackney Power Station Power Station in UK

Hackney Power Station was a coal-fired power station situated at Lea Bridge on the River Lee Navigation in London.

Northampton Power Station Former electricity generating station

Northampton power station was an electricity generating station in Northampton, Northamptonshire, England, which began operation for the Northampton Electric Light and Power Company Limited (NELPC) in 1919 and generated power until closure in 1976.

Skelton Grange power station

Skelton Grange Power Station refers to two now-demolished coal fired power stations that served the city of Leeds and surrounding areas. They were located in the Stourton area of the city. The power stations were built in the early 1950s and early 1960s, taken out of use in 1983 and 1994 and subsequently dismantled but the associated 275 kV switching substation was retained and remains in use.

Blackburn power stations are a series of electricity generating stations that have provided electric power to the town of Blackburn and the wider area from 1895 to the present. The first station in Jubilee Street, Blackburn began operating in 1895. A new larger station known as Blackburn East or Whitebirk power station was commissioned in 1921 and was rebuilt in stages over the period 1942 to 1955. Whitebirk station closed in 1976. The 60 MW Blackburn Mill Combined Cycle Gas Turbine (CCGT) power station has generated electricity since 2002. The Blackburn energy from waste (EfW) plant is currently (2020) being planned.

Leicester power station

Leicester power stations are a series of electricity generating stations that have provided electric power to the City of Leicester and the wider area from 1894. The first station, located within Aylestone gas works, supplied electricity for street lighting. The city’s new electric tram system was supplied from 1904 by a station at Lero which operated until 1930. A large coal-fired power station was constructed at Freemans Meadow in 1922 and was operational until 1976. Finally a gas turbine power plant was commissioned in 1976.

Stourport power stations were two electricity generating stations that supplied electricity to Stourport-on-Severn Worcestershire and to the wider West Midlands area from 1927 to 1984. The two stations, A (1927–78) and B (1950–84), were collocated on a joint site adjacent to the River Severn south of Stourport-on-Severn.

Sculcoates power station supplied electricity to Kingston upon Hull and the wider East Yorkshire area from 1898. An earlier 1893 station in Dagger Lane had operated public lighting in Hull Old Town. Sculcoates power station was built and operated by Kingston upon Hull Corporation on a site in Sculcoates Lane adjacent to the Beverley and Barmston Drain. The power station was increased in size as demand for electricity grew, it was redeveloped several times: including major rebuilds in 1927–29 and in 1938–1952. The power station was closed in 1976 and was subsequently demolished.

Huddersfield power station supplied electricity to the town of Huddersfield and the wider area from 1893 to 1981. It was owned and operated by Huddersfield Corporation until the nationalisation of the electricity supply industry in 1948. The power station was redeveloped several times: including the incorporation of new plant in the 1910s, and in the 1930s to 1950s. The station was decommissioned in October 1981.

Upper Boat power station supplied electricity to the town of Pontypridd and the wider area from 1904 to 1972. The power station was developed in several stages firstly in 1902, then from 1924 to 1942. It was owned and operated by the South Wales Electrical Power Distribution Company until the nationalisation of the electricity supply industry in 1948. The station was decommissioned in 1972 and was demolished in 1976.

The Thornhill power station generated and supplied electricity to the town of Dewsbury and the wider regional area from 1902 to 1982, and again from 1998. The first generating station on the site was owned and operated by the Yorkshire Electric Power Company. Following nationalisation of the British electricity supply industry in 1948 Thornhill power station was operated by a succession of state owned bodies. The power station was redeveloped with new plant in 1915, 1925, 1932–37 and 1950–54. The coal-fired steam station was decommissioned in 1982, and was subsequently demolished. A gas turbine power station on the site was commissioned in 1998.

Thanet power station, also known as St. Peter’s power station, supplied electricity to the towns of Broadstairs and Margate and other locations on the Isle of Thanet, Kent, England from 1901 to 1964. The station was owned and operated by the Isle of Thanet Electric Supply Company Limited until the nationalisation of the British electricity supply industry in 1948. The coal-fired power station had an ultimate electricity generating capacity of 6 MW.

References

  1. ↑ "ELECTRICITY SUPPLY, BRADFORD. (Hansard, 27 February 1936)". api.parliament.uk. Retrieved 18 December 2018.
  2. ↑ "Electric Lighting Act 1882". www.legislation.gov.uk. Retrieved 18 December 2018.
  3. ↑ Parsons 1940, p. 122.
  4. ↑ Parsons 1940, p. 122–123.
  5. ↑ Butler, Scott (September 2001). "UK Electricity Networks" (PDF). parliament.uk. Imperial College of Science. p. 10. Retrieved 22 December 2018.
  6. ↑ Garcke, Emile (1898). Manual of Electricity Undertakings vol. 3. London: P. S. King & Son.
  7. ↑ Firth, Gary (1997). A history of Bradford. Chichester: Phillimore. p. 120. ISBN   1-86077-057-6.
  8. ↑ Hannah, Leslie (1979). Electricity before Nationalisation. London: Macmillan. p. 15. ISBN   0333220862.
  9. ↑ Parsons 1940, p. 123.
  10. 1 2 "GANSG - Electricity Generating Stations". www.igg.org.uk. Retrieved 18 December 2018.
  11. ↑ Parsons 1940, p. 123–124.
  12. ↑ "Bradford Power Station". www.gracesguide.co.uk. Retrieved 18 December 2018.
  13. 1 2 Mead, Helen (19 August 2015). "7 PICTURES: Uncovering the hidden history of Bradford's ever-changing cityscape". Bradford Telegraph and Argus. Retrieved 18 December 2018.
  14. ↑ Richardson, Clement (1986). "Clearing the Air". The Bradford Antiquary. Bradford: Bradford Historical and Antiquarian Society. 2 (Third Series): 28–34. ISSN   0955-2553.
  15. 1 2 3 4 Electricity Council (1987). Electricity Supply in the United Kingdom: a Chronology. London: Electricity Council. pp. 39, 49, 60. ISBN   085188105X.
  16. 1 2 Electricity Commission (1925). Electricity Supply - 1920-1923. London: HMSO. pp. 14–18, 260–65.
  17. ↑ Davis, Mark (2011). Bradford Through Time. Stroud: Amberley. p. 93. ISBN   978-1-4456-0330-8.
  18. ↑ "Coal-fired Power Stations (Hansard, 16 January 1984)". api.parliament.uk. Retrieved 18 December 2018.
  19. ↑ "Davenport Engineering Co". www.gracesguide.co.uk. Retrieved 18 December 2018.
  20. ↑ "GANSG - Industrial ancillary structures". www.igg.org.uk. Retrieved 18 December 2018.
  21. 1 2 3 4 Garrett, Frederick C., ed. (1959). Garcke's Manual of Electricity Supply vol. 56. London: Electrical Press. pp. A-37, A-114.
  22. ↑ Hillmer, John; Shannon, Paul (2005). Yorkshire : the West Riding. Kettering: Past & Present Pub. p. 92. ISBN   978-1-85895-240-6.
  23. ↑ "Bridge – Bradford and District Local Studies". bradfordlocalstudies.wordpress.com. Retrieved 22 December 2018.
  24. ↑ CEGB Annual report and Accounts, 1961, 1962 & 1963
  25. 1 2 CEGB (1972). CEGB Statistical Yearbook 1972. London: CEGB. p. 15.
  26. ↑ "Power Stations (Hansard, 5 December 1975)". api.parliament.uk. Retrieved 18 December 2018.
  27. ↑ "Recording our shared Industrial Heritage". www.industrialhistoryonline.co.uk. Retrieved 23 December 2018.

Sources

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.