Brunswick Wharf Power Station | |
---|---|
![]() Brunswick Wharf Power Station in 1984 | |
![]() | |
Country | England |
Location | Tower Hamlets, London |
Coordinates | 51°30′29″N0°00′04″E / 51.5081°N 0.0010°E Coordinates: 51°30′29″N0°00′04″E / 51.5081°N 0.0010°E |
Status | Decommissioned and demolished |
Construction began | 1947 |
Commission date | 1952 |
Decommission date | 1984 |
Owner(s) | Poplar Borough Council (1947–1948) British Electricity Authority (1948–1955) Central Electricity Authority (1955–1957) Central Electricity Generating Board (1958–1984) |
Operator(s) | As owner |
Thermal power station | |
Primary fuel | Coal & oil |
Tertiary fuel | Oil |
Chimneys | Two (91 metres) |
Cooling towers | None |
Cooling source | River water |
Power generation | |
Units operational | Four × 55 MW & two × 63 MW turbo-alternators |
Make and model | Metropolitan-Vickers |
Units decommissioned | All |
Nameplate capacity | 340 MW |
Annual net output | (See graph below) |
External links | |
Commons | Related media on Commons |
grid reference TQ388807 |
Brunswick Wharf Power Station (also known as Blackwall Power Station) was a coal- and oil-fired power station on the River Thames at Blackwall in London. The station was planned from 1939 by Poplar Borough Council but construction only started in 1947 after the Second World War. [1] It was decommissioned in 1984, and the site was redeveloped.
The station was built in stages between 1947 and 1956 [1] on the site of the former East India Export Dock, itself originally the Brunswick Dock of the Blackwall Yard shipyard. The site was controversial due to both potential air pollution in a densely populated part of London, and to the implications of further concentrating generating capacity in an area that had been a strategic target in The Blitz. [1]
The building was a monumental brick structure with fluted concrete chimneys, similar to Gilbert Scott's design for Battersea Power Station. Its main building contractor was Peter Lind & Company with Redpath Brown & Company supplying the steelwork, Tileman and Company building the reinforced concrete chimneys and Marples, Ridgeway and Partners being the main civil engineering contractors. [1] Metropolitan-Vickers supplied the six turbo-alternators and Clarke, Chapman & Company and John Brown & Company supplied the 11 boilers. [1] A new 855 feet (261 m) concrete wharf with three Stothert & Pitt luffing cranes was built to land coal brought by colliers. [1]
The first phase of the station was supposed to be commissioned in 1948 but in fact did not start supplying electricity until 1952. [1] The station was officially opened by British Electricity Authority (BEA) chairman Walter Citrine, 1st Baron Citrine in 1954 but was not completed until 1956. [1] In 1957 the alternators were uprated to produce a total of 118 MW. [1] The final configuration of the station was 4 x 55 MW generators and 2 x 60 MW hydrogen cooled generators. Eleven boilers were installed. The boilers were manufactured by Clarke, Chapman & Co. and by John Brown & Co. [2] The maximum steam capacity of the boilers was 3,520,000 lb/hr (443 kg/s). Steam pressure and temperature at the turbine stop valves was 900 psi (62 bar) and 482 °C. [3]
In 1958 Brunswick Wharf was used in an experiment – Operation Chimney Plume – by the CEGB to determine whether power station flue-gas plumes penetrated fog layers. [4] On 4 December 1958 an aircraft flew above the low lying fog (750–800 feet) over London. Chemical were added to the power station boilers to colour the flue-gas plumes. It was found that the hot flue-gas plumes rose through and clear of the fog layer. Whereas the 'washed' and therefore cooler plumes from Battersea power station and Bankside power station were subsumed within the fog layer. [4]
The station was originally coal-fired, but the BEA's successor, the Central Electricity Generating Board, had it converted to oil in 1970–71. [1] The conversion to oil included the first solid state furnace controls in the UK, installed by Associated British Combustion, of Portchester UK. Associated British Combustion was subsequently in financial trouble and was acquired by Combustion Engineering of USA. [5]
Electricity output from Brunswick Wharf power station over the period 1954-1984 was as follows. [3] [6] [7] [8]
Brunswick Wharf annual electricity output GWh.
The CEGB planned to enlarge the station, but the 1973 oil crisis increased the price of oil, and the CEGB found it had surplus generating capacity. [1] The CEGB therefore decommissioned the station in 1984 [1] and sold it in 1987. [1] The power station was demolished in 1988–89, with the exception of the switchgear house, which survived until the 1990s [1] but was later redeveloped. [9] Three blocks called Elektron Towers and a block called Switch House have been built on the site of the power station. [10] The current site also contains the Brunswick Wharf Substation. [11]
Bankside Power Station is a decommissioned electricity generating station located on the south bank of the River Thames, in the Bankside area of the Borough of Southwark, London. It generated electricity from 1891 to 1981. It was also used as a training base for electrical and mechanical student apprenticeships from all over the country. Since 2000 the building has been used to house the Tate Modern art museum and gallery.
Wilford power station was a coal-fired electricity generating station situated on the north bank of the River Trent, at Nottingham in the East Midlands.
Rye House Power Station is a 715 MW combined cycle gas turbine (CCGT) power station close to Rye House railway station in Hoddesdon, Hertfordshire.
The Littlebrook Power Station were a series of four oil and coal-fired power stations situated on the south bank of the River Thames, next to the Queen Elizabeth 2 Bridge and the Dartford Tunnel in Dartford, Kent. The final power station, Littlebrook D, ceased operating in March 2015, and has now been demolished.
Fulham Power Station was a coal-fired power station on the north bank of the River Thames at Battersea Reach in Fulham, London, not to be confused with Lots Road Power Station, a mile or so downstream in Chelsea.
Rotherham power station was a coal-fired power station sited close to the centre of Rotherham in South Yorkshire.
The Tilbury power stations were two thermal power stations on the north bank of the River Thames at Tilbury in Essex. The 360 MW dual coal- and oil-fired Tilbury A Power Station operated from 1956 until 1981 when it was mothballed, prior to demolition in 1999. The 1,428 MW Tilbury B Power Station operated between 1968 and 2013 and was fueled by coal, as well as co-firing with oil and, from 2011, biomass. Tilbury B was demolished in 2016–19. Since 2013 three other power stations have been proposed or constructed in Tilbury.
Barton Power Station was a coal-fired power station on the Bridgewater Canal in Trafford Park, near Eccles, Lancashire, England.
Ince Power Station refers to two demolished power stations near Ellesmere Port in Cheshire, North West England.
Stuart Street Power Station was a coal-fired power station in Bradford, Manchester, England.
Blackwall Point Power Station was a coal-fired power station on the east side of the Greenwich Peninsula, in London. An early station from the 1890s was replaced in 1951 by a new station, which itself ceased operation in 1984. The station was constructed on a three-acre site at the north-west end of River Way to the south-east of the South Metropolitan Gasworks, since redeveloped as East Parkside.
Kirkstall power station was a coal-fired unit opened in 1930, serving the city of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England.
Poole Power Station was a coal-fired power station located in Hamworthy, Poole, in Dorset. Its 325 ft tall twin chimneys were prominent landmarks and it was the tallest building in Dorset until its partial demolition in 1993.
Grove Road power station was an 80.25 MW electricity generating station that operated from 1902 until it was closed in 1969. It was an early example of the co-operation between London electricity companies to centralise electricity generation in a shared, relatively large-scale, and therefore more efficient, power station. The site is now occupied by two major high-voltage electricity sub-stations.
Ribble Power Station was a coal-fired electricity generating station on the River Ribble in Penwortham near Preston, Lancashire. The station was built by the Corporation of Preston to replace a small privately-run generating station in the town. It supplied electricity to Preston and the surrounding area from 1923 until 1976. The station was expanded with new equipment in 1943–47 which remained in operation until the power station was closed in 1976 and was subsequently demolished.
Huncoat Power Station was located in Huncoat near Accrington, Lancashire. It was a 150 MW, coal-fired, electricity generating station in operation from 1952 to 1984. It has since been demolished. Huncoat power station replaced the earlier Accrington power station that had supplied electricity to the town since 1900.
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.
Bromborough power stations are three electricity generating stations that supplied power to industrial and domestic users in Bromborough, Port Sunlight and the wider Wirral area from 1918 until 1998. Bromborough power station provided public electricity supplies from 1951 to 1980. Central power station Bromborough (1918–1998) was originally owned by Lever Brothers and supplied electricity to domestic users in Port Sunlight as well as electricity and steam to industrial users. Merseyside power station Bromborough (1958–1998) was also owned by Unilever and provided electricity and steam at a range of pressures to industrial users in the locality. All three power stations at Bromborough have been demolished.
Lombard Road power station supplied electricity to the Battersea area of South-East London from 1901 to 1972. It was owned and operated by the Borough of Battersea 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 the 1930s. The station was decommissioned in 1972.
Tir John power station supplied electricity to the Swansea area and to the national grid from 1935 to 1976. It was initially owned and operated by the Swansea Corporation until the nationalisation of the electricity supply industry in 1948. The power station was built in several phases from 1935 to 1944. It was converted from coal to oil-firing in 1967; Tir John power station was decommissioned in 1976.
![]() | Wikimedia Commons has media related to Brunswick Wharf Power Station . |