President Street Power Station, Johannesburg was an early 20th-century power station in Johannesburg, South Africa.
When the President Street Power Station was constructed, supply tenders were invited. Although the cheapest was for a steam driven plant, consultants recommended a gas engine scheme which promised sufficient savings in fuel consumption to recover the increased capital cost within a few years.
The estimated power needed by Johannesburg, almost 10 MW, required gas engines bigger than any previously built. Mordey & Dawbarn, the consulting engineers, recommended the following supplies, which were adopted by the municipality:
Stewart and Company, the Scottish contractors, supplied untested and experimental engines. There had been a history of costly failure of gas engines in the UK linked to the problem of breakdowns caused by the impurities in bituminous coal. Apparently no one had checked before starting on the scheme whether the bituminous coal to be used in the gas producers was suitable for the installation. Within months the engines ran into serious problems. New engines and producer plant proved unreliable and expensive to operate and there were heavy maintenance costs.
An explosion in the boiler house in March 1907 led to the entire installation being shut down in May 1907. By mid-1907 the city council rejected the whole scheme and instituted legal proceedings against the suppliers to recover their losses.
A power station, also referred to as a power plant and sometimes generating station or generating plant, is an industrial facility for the generation of electric power. Power stations are generally connected to an electrical grid.
Electric power distribution is the final stage in the delivery of electric power; it carries electricity from the transmission system to individual consumers. Distribution substations connect to the transmission system and lower the transmission voltage to medium voltage ranging between 2 kV and 35 kV with the use of transformers. Primary distribution lines carry this medium voltage power to distribution transformers located near the customer's premises. Distribution transformers again lower the voltage to the utilization voltage used by lighting, industrial equipment and household appliances. Often several customers are supplied from one transformer through secondary distribution lines. Commercial and residential customers are connected to the secondary distribution lines through service drops. Customers demanding a much larger amount of power may be connected directly to the primary distribution level or the subtransmission level.
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.
Greenwich Power Station is a standby gas and formerly oil and coal-fired power station by the River Thames at Greenwich in south-east London. Originally constructed to supply power for London's tram system, since 1988 it has been London Underground's central emergency power supply, providing power if there is partial or total loss of National Grid supplies.
Manors Power Station or the Tramways Generating Station is a former coal-fired power station located in the Manors district of the city centre of Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear in North East England. The station's turbine hall and other remaining buildings are Grade II listed.
Darlington power station refers to a series of two coal-fired power stations situated in Darlington in County Durham, North East England.
Orlando Power Station is a decommissioned coal-fired power station in Soweto, South Africa. The power station was commissioned at the end of the Second World War and served Johannesburg for over 50 years.
Colenso Power Station was a South African coal-fired power station, located in Colenso, KwaZulu-Natal on the banks of the Tugela River. It was built in the 1920s by the South African Railways to supply electricity for the railways, and was subsequently sold to the Electricity Supply Commission (Eskom).
The Ultimo Power Station, or Ultimo Powerhouse, was an electricity generating plant located in the inner-city Sydney suburb of Ultimo, New South Wales. Commissioned in 1899, it was the first major power station in Sydney and was originally built to supply power for the electric tram network. Prior to this, a small installation had existed at Regent Street, which was brought into use on 15 June 1882. Additionally, experimental electric tram operations powered by small generators had been in intermittent use in Sydney since 1890.
The South African Railways gas-electric locomotive of 1923 was an experimental gas-electric locomotive. The fuel, suction gas, was generated on-board the locomotive from coal.
The Norwich power stations were a sequence of electricity generating stations that provided electric power to the City of Norwich and the wider area between 1893 and 1986. The first station in Duke Street began operating in 1893, a new power station at Thorpe was in service from 1926 to 1967, this was supplemented with a 'high pressure' station, 1937–1975, and finally a gas turbine station operated from 1964–1986.
Accrington power station was a coal and refuse fired electricity generating station located in the centre of Accrington, Lancashire. The station supplied electricity to Accrington and to Haslingden and the Altham and Clayton-le-Moors areas between 1900 and 1958.
Carlisle power stations were two electricity generating stations that supplied electricity to Carlisle and the surrounding area from 1899 until 1980. The first power station (1899–1927) was in the centre of the city near Nelson Bridge, and the second larger station was at Willow Holme North-West of the city (1923–1980).
Burnley power station supplied electricity to the town of Burnley, Lancashire from 1893 to 1958. The electricity station was owned and operated by Burnley Corporation prior to the nationalisation of the British electricity industry in 1948. It was redeveloped as demand for electricity grew and old plant was replaced, and had an ultimate generating capacity of 8 MW in the 1920s. The station closed in 1958.
Chesterfield power station supplied electricity to the town of Chesterfield, Derbyshire from 1901 to 1958. The electricity generating station was owned and operated by Chesterfield Corporation prior to the nationalisation of the British electricity industry in 1948. It was redeveloped as demand for electricity grew and old plant was replaced, and had a generating capacity of 6.9 MW in the 1920s. The station closed on 1 April 1958.
The Cardiff power stations supplied electricity to the City of Cardiff and the surrounding area from 1894 to about 1970. The original power station was in Riverside; a larger replacement station was built in Roath in the 1902, initially to supply the tramway system. They were both owned and operated by Cardiff Corporation prior to the nationalisation of the British electricity supply industry in 1948. The Roath power station was redeveloped in the 1920s and 1940s to meet the increased demand for electricity.
The Newport power stations supplied electricity to the town of Newport and the surrounding area from 1895 to the late 1970s. The original power station was in Llanarth Street which supplied electric lighting; a larger station, known as the East power station, was built in Corporation Road from 1903. They were owned and operated by Newport Corporation prior to the nationalisation of the British electricity supply industry in 1948. The East power station was redeveloped in the 1920s and 1940s to meet the increased demand for electricity.
Nelson power station supplied electricity to the town of Nelson, Lancashire and the surrounding area from 1892 to 1960. The power station was owned and operated by Nelson Corporation prior to the nationalisation of the British electricity supply industry in 1948. It was redeveloped in 1922 to 1925 to meet the increased demand for electricity.
Stockport power station supplied electricity to the town of Stockport, Cheshire and the surrounding area from 1899 to 1976. The power station was owned and operated by Stockport Corporation prior to the nationalisation of the British electricity supply industry in 1948. It was redeveloped several times to meet the increased demand for electricity.
Warrington power station supplied electricity to the town of Warrington, Lancashire and the surrounding area from about 1900 to 1979. The power station was initially developed by the Warrington and District Electric Light and Power Company Limited, this was taken over by Warrington Corporation, which operated the power station prior to the nationalisation of the British electricity supply industry in 1948. It was redeveloped several times to meet the increased demand for electricity.
