Mexborough Power Station

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Mexborough Power Station
Mexborough Power Station
Country England
Location South Yorkshire, Yorkshire and the Humber
Coordinates 53°29′37″N1°15′49″W / 53.493734°N 1.26359°W / 53.493734; -1.26359
StatusDecommissioned and demolished
Construction began1943
Commission date 1945
Decommission dateOctober 1981
Owner(s)Yorkshire Electric Power Company
(1939–1948)
British Electricity Authority
(1948–1955)
Central Electricity Authority
(1955–1957)
Central Electricity Generating Board
(1958–1981)
Operator(s)As owner
Thermal power station
Primary fuel Coal
Chimneys4
Cooling towers2
Power generation
Units operational4 × 30 MW
Units decommissionedAll
Nameplate capacity 120 MW
Annual net output 318 GWh (1972)
[ edit on Wikidata]

grid reference SK488999

Mexborough Power Station was a coal-fired power station situated on the banks of the River Don, on the border of Mexborough and Denaby, adjoining Doncaster Road, in South Yorkshire, England.

Contents

History

The plant was planned by the Yorkshire Electric Power Company in 1939 but construction was delayed by the war. The station became operational in 1945. [1]

Plant

The site housed four English Electric generating sets of approximately 30 MW each, giving the station a total generating capacity of 120 megawatts (MW). Two of the sets were installed in January to September 1945 and generated at 10.5 kV, and the other two were installed in July to September 1957 and generated at 11.8 kV. [2]

There were four Mitchell stoker-fired boilers and four Richardson Westgarth boilers. [2] The boilers had the combined capacity to produce 1,260,000 lb/h (158.8 kg/s) of steam at 600 psi (41.4 bar) and 454 °C. [3]

There were four substantial chimneys giving this local landmark its distinctive appearance.

There were two Mitchell cooling towers with a total capacity of 2.68 million gallons per hour (12.2 million litres per hour). Make up condensing water was abstracted from the river. [2]

The electricity generating capacity and output of the power station is shown in the table. [2] [3] [4] [5]

Mexborough electricity capacity, output and efficiency
Year194619471948195019541955195619571958196119621963196719711979
Installed capacity, MW59.960.8575757575757113120120120120120120
Electricity output, GWh315.725322.345365.263319.857253.330225.878188.909251.654352.217495.882409.275394.316327.81317.94125.59
Thermal efficiency, %24.8325.4025.4225.3823.9323.7323.2522.7423.8522.6221.9421.8521.8621.0217.01
Running hours8782873975437600548668127539

Closure

The power station closed on 26 October 1981, with a generating capacity of 113 MW. [6] The station was demolished in 1988. The demolition of the station sparked local interest when one of the giant chimneys was toppled accidentally and fell across the site, prematurely demolishing much of it. Contamination at the site was a concern. [7]

The site today

The site today is the Shimmer housing estate, areas of which were proposed to be demolished to make way for a 62 feet (19 m) high viaduct as part of a new railway infrastructure dubbed HS2, which was intended to make commuting times to London faster. Many homes were purchased by HS2 with residents being left in negative equity. [8] [9] [10] [11] However, in November 2021 it was confirmed by the Government that the 'Eastern Leg' of HS2 would not be constructed, with the line terminating at East Midlands Parkway, ultimately meaning that the compulsory purchasing of homes on the Shimmer estate was not required. [12]

See also

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References

  1. ↑ "Nostalgia on Tuesday: Towering presence". Yorkshire Post. 19 June 2019. Retrieved 16 February 2020.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Garrett, Frederick C., ed. (1959). Garcke's Manual of Electricity Supply vol.56. London: Electrical Press. pp. A-77, A-128.
  3. 1 2 CEGB (1972). CEGB Statistical Yearbook 1972. London: CEGB. p. 15.
  4. ↑ CEGB Annual report and Accounts, 1961, 1962 & 1963
  5. ↑ Electricity Commission, Generation of Electricity in Great Britain year ended 31st December 1946. London: HMSO, 1947.
  6. ↑ Mr. Redmond (16 January 1984). "Coal-fired Power Stations". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard) . Retrieved 1 September 2009.
  7. ↑ "Homes plan for power station site thrown out". South Yorkshire Times. 29 October 2007. Archived from the original on 2 October 2011. Retrieved 4 May 2020.
  8. ↑ "Fury after new HS2 report reveals 'more Doncaster homes and green spaces' are set for the bulldozer". Doncaster Free Press. 17 October 2018. Retrieved 4 May 2020.
  9. ↑ Pidd, Helen (18 July 2017). "People on estate facing demolition for HS2 could struggle to find new homes". The Guardian. Retrieved 4 May 2020.
  10. ↑ Hughes, Laura (17 July 2017). "HS2 track plans: Brand-new homes to be bulldozed as final plans are revealed". The Telegraph. Retrieved 4 May 2020.
  11. ↑ Burn, Chris (19 October 2018). "'HS2 have blatantly lied to us': Anger as demolition numbers for housing estate treble" . infoweb.newsbank.com. Retrieved 4 May 2020.
  12. ↑ "Can we have our home back? HS2 U-turn leaves uprooted family reeling". The Guardian. 18 November 2021. Retrieved 28 January 2022.
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