Megawatt Valley

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Cottam and West Burton power stations in the Trent Valley Megawatt Valley - geograph.org.uk - 1733073.jpg
Cottam and West Burton power stations in the Trent Valley

Megawatt Valley is a term applied to a geographic location which houses a large number of electricity generating stations. Historically in the United Kingdom this applied to the coal-fired power stations of the lower Trent Valley. In the mid-1980s, the valley's 13 facilities generated up to a quarter of the power demand for England and Wales. A shift to gas-fired power stations saw many of the Megawatt Valley facilities close down. The term was then associated with an area of Yorkshire centred on the River Aire that was home to Ferrybridge C, Eggborough and Drax power stations. Of these facilities only Drax remains in operation. In the United States the term has been applied to an area of West Virginia, home to five power stations.

Contents

Trent Valley

Power in Trust sculpture at Staythorpe Power Station Power In Trust sculpture (geograph 4882572).jpg
Power in Trust sculpture at Staythorpe Power Station

Megawatt Valley was a term originally applied to the Trent Valley. [1] The area was developed in the 1960s by the nationalised Central Electricity Generating Board (CEGB). [2] Many coal power stations were constructed on or near the banks of the River Trent and a major overhead power line network was constructed to supply Southern England. [2] [3] This construction coincided with a move by CEGB to shift the location of power generation from smaller city-based power stations to rural locations. These were more efficient as they could be larger, closer to fuel sources and cooling water supplies. The Trent Valley was ideal due its proximity to the Nottinghamshire and Yorkshire coal fields and ready supply of water from the Trent. [3]

Power stations in Megawatt Valley included High Marnham in Nottinghamshire which, at 1000MW, was the largest power station in Europe when it was opened in October 1962, and was fed by 17 different collieries. [4] In 1986 the valley was home to 13 of the 78 power stations in England and Wales and was responsible for up to a quarter of all power generated in the same area. [5] [6] This was the largest concentration of power generation in Europe. [3] It was said that by the late 1960s the waters of the Trent were noticeably warmer than those of comparable rivers owing to heat transfer from the cooling water. [7]

The sculpture Power in Trust by Norman Sillman, made to represent a hand made from boiler pipes and a turbine, was commissioned in 1961 for the opening of Staythorpe B Power Station. [8] It remains on the site of the former coal-fired power station and has been described as a monument to the pioneers of Megawatt Valley. [6] The five surviving cooling towers at the long-closed Willington Power Station were preserved from demolition due to the presence of nesting birds. They remain a notable landmark to travellers along the Trent and have been cited as a monument to the importance of the Trent to Megawatt Valley. [9]

A 1989 paper written by the Chairman of East Midlands Electricity, then on the brink of privatisation, stated that until that point British electricity generation had relied on large-scale coal plant as seen at Megawatt Valley. He provided a vision of the future where generation moved away from coal to cheaper means, such as gas. [10] This switch began to be made in the 1990s, during the so-called Dash for Gas, and led to the closure of many coal-fired plants, including those in Megawatt Valley. [11] Only Ratcliffe-on-Soar remains in service as the final coal-fired station of Megawatt valley (as of 2023). [12] These plants have flue-gas desulphurisation units which supply gypsum for plasterboard manufacture. [13] The pulverised fly ash (PFA) generated by the power stations was, until the 1980s, used to fill the majority of sand and gravel workings in the Trent Valley. This practice reduced following the wider use of fly ash in manufacture and the closure of Megawatt Valley power stations. [14]

There remains a concern amongst some residents that the old coal power stations will be replaced by other forms of generation such as wind turbines and that Megawatt Valley will continue to be viewed as a place where visual intrusion by energy assets is acceptable. [15]

List of coal power stations in the lower Trent Valley

England Trent River location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Stoke
Red pog.svg
Meaford
Red pog.svg
Rugeley
Red pog.svg
Burton
Red pog.svg
Drakelow
Red pog.svg
Willington
Red pog.svg
Castle Donington
Green pog.svg
Ratcliffe-on-Soar
Red pog.svg
Wilford
Red pog.svg
Staythorpe
Red pog.svg
High Marnham
Red pog.svg
Cottam
Red pog.svg
West Burton
Red pog.svg
Keadby
Blue pog.svg
Ferrybridge
Blue pog.svg
Eggborough
Blue pog.svg
Drax
City locator 10 green.svg
Sheffield
City locator 10 green.svg
Derby
City locator 10 green.svg
Birmingham
City locator 10 green.svg
Peterborough
City locator 10 green.svg
Hull
City locator 10 green.svg
Leeds
City locator 10 green.svg
Stoke-on-Trent
City locator 10 green.svg
Manchester
City locator 10 green.svg
Nottingham
City locator 10 green.svg
Leicester
Green pog.svg Current Trent Valley power stations
Red pog.svg Former Trent Valley power stations
Blue pog.svg Yorkshire power stations
City locator 10 green.svg Cities

Richard Stone, in his book The River Trent (2005), provides the limits of Megawatt Valley as Meaford – near Stone, Staffordshire – at the upstream end and Keadby – near Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire at the downstream end. This includes the following coal-fired power stations – some of these sites have had gas-fired units installed, these are not listed. [16]

Staffordshire

Derbyshire

Leicestershire

Nottinghamshire

Lincolnshire

Upstream of Richard Stone's geographical limit at Meaford was the 31 MW Stoke-on-Trent power station (1913–1960s), located adjacent to the river Trent. [40]

Cooling water abstraction

With a series of power stations each abstracting cooling water and returning warm water to the river the impact on the ecology of the Trent could be significant. At Castle Donington Power Station, the average increase in river temperatures was 7°C (maximum temperature increase 12 °C, minimum 4 °C). [41] Cooling towers were used to dissipate the heat load and reduced the reliance on river water. The table illustrates the cooling water requirements of some of the Trent Valley power stations. [42] [43] [44]

Power stationGenerating capacity, MWWater abstractedNumber of cooling towersDistance to next down stream power station, km
mgphm3/sec
Drakelow A, B, C244 + 480 + 1,268810.111 + 312.9
Willington A, B416 + 40016.520.832 + 312.9
Castle Donington 6272531.58414.9
Ratcliffe-on-Soar 2,0001.531.9386.0
Wilford (Nottingham)3081012.63Nil33.8
Staythorpe A, B360 + 3602329.05120.0
High Marnham 1,0002734.1159
Cottam 1,5971.041.32810
West Burton 2,0002.43.03828
Keadby 3369.0211.40

Notes

Later use of the term

Ferrybridge, Eggborough and Drax power stations visible on the horizon 3 power stations January morning - geograph.org.uk - 1109730.jpg
Ferrybridge, Eggborough and Drax power stations visible on the horizon

After many of the Trent Valley power stations closed the epithet Megawatt Valley began to be used for a section of Yorkshire between Leeds, York and Doncaster. This was due to the presence of Ferrybridge C (1966–2016), Eggborough (1967–2018) and Drax (1974–) coal-fired power stations. [45] This was one of the few remaining concentrations of coal-fired generation in the UK; the power stations being located close to historic coal-mining sites on the South Yorkshire Coalfield and to the River Aire. [46] Drax is a large power station capable of generating 7% of UK electricity demand[ citation needed ] and, despite being the UK's cleanest and most-efficient coal-fired power station before it was converted to biomass, was Europe's biggest single source of carbon dioxide emissions. [47] The term Megawatt Valley, in relation to the Yorkshire power stations, has been mentioned ("What ever happened to The Megawatt Valley? It pumped out the sounds to the avenues and alleys") in the song Two Lane Texaco by the folk band My Darling Clementine. [48]

The term has also been used in reference to a location in West Virginia, United States, where five plants are located, totalling some 6000 megawatts of generating capacity. This includes the Mountaineer Power Plant, in Mason County and four nearby plants. [49]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">River Trent</span> River in England – third-longest in the UK

The Trent is third in the list of longest rivers in the United Kingdom. Its source is in Staffordshire, on the southern edge of Biddulph Moor. It flows through and drains the North Midlands into the Humber Estuary. The river is known for dramatic flooding after storms and spring snowmelt, which in the past often caused the river to change course.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Drax Power Station</span> Biomass power station in North Yorkshire

Drax power station is a large biomass power station in Drax, North Yorkshire, England, capable of co-firing petroleum coke. It has a 2.6 GW capacity for biomass and had a 1.29 GW capacity for coal that was retired in 2021. Its name comes from the nearby village of Drax. It is situated on the River Ouse between Selby and Goole. Its generating capacity of 3,906 megawatts (MW), which includes the shut down coal units, is the highest of any power station in the United Kingdom, providing about 6% of the United Kingdom's electricity supply.

The Central Electricity Generating Board (CEGB) was responsible for electricity generation, transmission and bulk sales in England and Wales from 1958 until privatisation of the electricity industry in the 1990s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ratcliffe-on-Soar Power Station</span> Coal-fired power station in Nottinghamshire, England

Ratcliffe-on-Soar Power Station is a coal-fired power station owned and operated by Uniper at Ratcliffe-on-Soar in Nottinghamshire, England. Commissioned in 1968 by the Central Electricity Generating Board, the station has a capacity of 2,000 MW. It is the last remaining operational coal-fired power station in the UK, and is scheduled to close in September 2024.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Drakelow Power Station</span> Series of power stations in England

Drakelow Power Station refers to a series of three now decommissioned and demolished coal-fired power stations located 2.4 mi (3.9 km) south of Burton upon Trent, Staffordshire in the West Midlands of England, on the River Trent. However, the station was actually located in the county of Derbyshire, in the East Midlands. The power station was a distinguishable landmark of Burton, which is most famous for its breweries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cottam power stations</span> Two power stations, the coal-fired station closed in 2019

Cottam power station is a decommissioned coal-fired power station. The site extends over 620 acres (250 ha) of mainly arable land and is situated at the eastern edge of Nottinghamshire on the west bank of the River Trent at Cottam near Retford. The larger coal-fired station, was decommissioned by EDF Energy in 2019 in line with the UK's goal to meet its zero-coal power generation by 2025. The smaller in-use station is Cottam Development Centre, a combined cycle gas turbine plant commissioned in 1999, with a generating capacity of 440 MW. This plant is owned by Uniper.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Keadby Power Stations</span> Gas-fired power station

Keadby Power Stations are a pair of natural gas-fired power stations near Scunthorpe in North Lincolnshire, built on the site of an older coal power station. The site lies near the B1392 and the River Trent, and the Scunthorpe-Grimsby railway. Also nearby is the Stainforth and Keadby Canal, which is part of the Sheffield and South Yorkshire Navigation. The current stations are operated by SSE Thermal.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Connah's Quay Power Station</span> Gas-fired power station in Wales

Connah's Quay Power Station is the name of the current 1,420 MW gas-fired power station near Connah's Quay in Flintshire in North Wales. The power plant, which is situated on the south bank of the River Dee, is the modern successor to a coal-fired power station which closed in 1984 and demolished in 1992. The replacement gas-powered plant was completed in 1996 and began producing electricity a year later. It originally received its gas from the Point of Ayr terminal, which in turn comes from the offshore gas fields in Liverpool Bay.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Staythorpe Power Station</span> Gas-fired power station in Nottinghamshire, England

Staythorpe C Power Station is a 1,735 MWe gas-fired power station at Staythorpe between Southwell and Newark-on-Trent in Nottinghamshire, England, between the River Trent and Nottingham to Lincoln railway line. The station was handed over to the owner RWE from Alstom Power with full commercial operation being achieved in December 2010. The official opening ceremony attended by Charles Hendry, Minister of State took place on 9 May 2011.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pembroke Power Station</span> Gas fired power station in Pembrokeshire, Wales

Pembroke B Power Station is a 2,200 MWe natural gas-fired power station near Pembroke in Wales. The power station was officially opened in September 2012 and is the largest gas-fired power station in Europe. It is also the largest power station to be built in the UK since Drax power station came online in 1986. Pembroke Power Station currently generates enough power to supply 3.5 million homes and businesses. It is operated by RWE.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">West Burton power stations</span> Coal and gas fired power stations in Nottinghamshire, England

The West Burton power stations are a pair of power stations on the River Trent near Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, England. West Burton A was a coal-fired power station, which was commissioned in 1966 and operated until 2023, and West Burton B is a combined cycle gas turbine power station, commissioned in 2013. West Burton A is owned by EDF Energy, while West Burton B is owned and operated by EIG Global Energy Partners.

The Rugeley power stations were a series of two coal-fired power stations located on the River Trent at Rugeley in Staffordshire. The first power station on the site, Rugeley A power station was opened in 1961, but has since been closed and demolished. Rugeley B power station was commissioned in 1970, and closed on 8 June 2016. The cooling towers of which were demolished on 6 June 2021. It had an output of 1,000 megawatts (MW) and had a 400 kilovolt (kV) connection to the national grid. The B station provided enough electricity to power roughly half a million homes.

Blackburn Meadows power station is a biomass power station situated at Blackburn Meadows on the River Don, between Sheffield and Rotherham in South Yorkshire, England. Operated by E.ON UK, it was opened in 2014 and has an operating capacity of 30 megawatts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">High Marnham Power Station</span> Former coal-fired power station in England

High Marnham Power Station was a coal fuelled power station in Nottinghamshire, to the west of the River Trent, approximately 0.5 miles (0.8 km) north of the village of High Marnham. Construction site clearance began in November 1955, No. 1 Unit power generation commenced in October 1959, and the station became fully operational in June 1962. The plant operated until 2003 when it was decommissioned, though the cooling towers weren't demolished until 2012.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Castle Donington Power Station</span> Former coal-fired power station

Castle Donington Power Station was a coal-fired power station situated on the River Trent near Castle Donington, Leicestershire, 5 miles (8.0 km) south-east of Derby. Construction began in 1951, and the station opened in 1958.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Willington Power Station</span> Former coal-fired power station in England

Willington Power Station is a pair of partly demolished coal-fired power stations that were constructed in the 1950s. The two stations were built on a site off Twyford Road, between Willington and Findern in Derbyshire, England. The two power stations had an installed capacity totaling 804 MW. The two stations consisted of the 'A' Station, and the 'B' Station.

Meaford Power Station was a coal-fired power station situated on the River Trent at Meaford near Stone in Staffordshire.

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.

Burton upon Trent power station supplied electricity to the town of Burton upon Trent and the wider area from 1894 to 1976. It was owned and operated by Burton upon Trent Corporation until the nationalisation of the British electricity supply industry in 1948. The power station was redeveloped several times: including the incorporation of new plant in the 1910s, in 1924–28 and 1941–43. The station was decommissioned in October 1976.

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