Thorpe Marsh Power Station

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Thorpe Marsh Power Station
Towers of Thorpe Marsh.jpg
Thorpe Marsh power station's cooling towers
Thorpe Marsh Power Station
Country England
Location South Yorkshire, Yorkshire and the Humber
Coordinates 53°34′50″N1°05′07″W / 53.580602°N 1.08534°W / 53.580602; -1.08534
Construction began1959
Commission date 1963 [1]
Decommission date1994
Operators Central Electricity Generating Board
(1963-1990)
National Power
(1990-1994)
Thermal power station
Primary fuel Coal
Tertiary fuel Heavy Fuel Oil
Power generation
Nameplate capacity 1,100 MW
External links
Commons Related media on Commons
[ edit on Wikidata]

grid reference SE605097

Thorpe Marsh Power Station was a 1 GW coal-fired power station near Barnby Dun in South Yorkshire, England. The station was commissioned in 1963 and closed in 1994. [2] In 2011, permission was given for the construction of a gas-fired power station on the site.

Contents

History

Construction and operation, (1959–1994)

The Central Electricity Authority proposed in December 1956 to construct a power station containing 550MW turbo alternators. These were vastly bigger units than had been built which at the time was 200MW. The sets were actually 2 x 275MW units powered by one turbine as that was the maximum size that could be transported. Thorpe Marsh was selected for a 1,100 MW station to be delivered as a part of its 1962 programme [3] .

Construction of the station began in 1959; [4] it was built as a prototype for all the large modern power stations in the UK. It was commissioned between 1963 and 1965. [5] Thorpe Marsh was one of the CEGB's twenty steam power stations with the highest thermal efficiency; in 1963–4 the thermal efficiency was 31.50 per cent, 32.76 per cent in 1964–5, and 33.09 per cent in 1965–6. [6]

There were 2 × 28 MW auxiliary gas turbines on the site, these had been commissioned in December 1966. [7]

The plant was officially opened in 1967. [8]

The station contained two Parsons 550 MW generating units. These turbo-generator itself is a two-shaft machine operating two alternators, each of 275 MW cross compound turbines, each supplied from a International Combustion boiler that could provide 3,750,000 lb/ of steam an hour, at a pressure of 2,400 lb per sq in and a temperature of 1,055 deg F. The steam was reheated after passing through the high-pressure turbine back to 1,055 deg F before passing back through the remaining stages of the turbine. [9] [10] These were the biggest boilers ever constructed at the time and were two separately cased twin furnace units but with a single steam output. [11]

The annual electricity output of Thorpe Marsh was: [6]

Electricity output of Thorpe Marsh
Year1963–41964–51965–61966–71971–21978–91981–2
Electricity supplied, GWh5811,6971,8032,8043,6603,7504,296

On 7 January 1973, four workmen died. A coroner's report gave a verdict of accidental death; subsequently the Factory Inspectorate began legal proceedings against the Central Electricity Generating Board (CEGB) for breaches in safety provisions. [12]

After the privatisation of the CEGB in 1990, the station was operated by National Power. The station subsequently closed in 1994. [5] [13]

Post closure (1994–)

The 45 ha (110 acres) site was acquired by Able UK in 1995. [14]

During the 2007 United Kingdom floods, the 400 kV substation at the site was temporarily shut down on 27 June, whilst the 275 kV substation was not affected; operational service was fully restored by early 28 June. [15]

In October 2011, the Department of Energy and Climate Change approved the construction of a 1,500 MW combined cycle gas turbine power station at Thorpe Marsh by Thorpe Marsh Power Limited (parent Acorn Power Developments, see Acorn Energy) with an estimated cost of £984 million. [16] [17] [18] Thorpe Marsh Power Limited proposed an initial capacity of 960 MW. [18] The proposed development would also require the construction of an 18 km (11 mi) gas pipeline from Camblesforth; [19] the gas pipeline was approved in 2016. [20]

Able UK demolished the original power station's cooling towers in 2012. [21] [22]

In 2022 plans were unveiled to build a 1.4 GW [23] / 3.1 GWh battery energy storage system on the site for £445 million by 2027, [24] named the Thorpe Marsh Green Energy Hub. A 1 GW / 2 GWh battery is also planned at the adjacent Almholme site. [25] Local news sources have highlighted the projects' potential in repurposing the old power station's infrastructure. [26]

References

  1. ↑ "Nostalgia on Tuesday: Towering presence". The Yorkshire Post . 19 June 2018. Retrieved 30 October 2021.
  2. ↑ "Thorpe Marsh CCGT Power Station – Environment Statement" (PDF). September 2010. p. 203. Retrieved 30 October 2021.
  3. ↑ Electrical Review 1957-05-17: Vol 160 Iss 20. Internet Archive. St. John Patrick Publishers. 17 May 1957.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  4. ↑ "Barnby Dun Village History". Barnby Dun Community Association. Retrieved 30 October 2021.
  5. 1 2 "Generation disconnections since 1991". National Grid. 2003. Archived from the original on 5 December 2012. Retrieved 5 October 2009.
  6. 1 2 CEGB (1966). CEGB Statistical Yearbooks 1964, 1965, 1966, 1972, 1982. London: CEGB. pp. 26, 26, 20.
  7. ↑ The Electricity Council (1990). Handbook of Electricity Supply Statistics. London: The Electricity Council. p. 8. ISBN   085188122X.
  8. ↑ "Site-Assembled Transformer". Engineering. 203. London: Centaur Media: 775. 1967. ISSN   0013-7758.
  9. ↑ "Electricity Supply in the UK: A chronology" (PDF). Electricity Council. c. 1987. 1963, p.87. Retrieved 26 August 2014.
  10. ↑ Electrical Review 1958-02-14: Vol 162 Iss 7. Internet Archive. St. John Patrick Publishers. 14 February 1958.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  11. ↑ Electrical Review 1958-11-21: Vol 163 Iss 21. Internet Archive. St. John Patrick Publishers. 21 November 1958.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  12. ↑ "Thorpe Marsh Power Station (Workmen's Deaths)". Hansard – Written Answers (Commons). 852. c42W. 5 March 1973.
  13. ↑ "Thorpe Marsh Power Station". Hansard – House of Commons. 226. cc968-74. 16 June 1993.
  14. ↑ "Thorpe Marsh". Able UK. Archived from the original on 19 September 2008. Retrieved 26 August 2008.
  15. ↑ Flooding: Fifth Report of Session 2007–08. Vol. 2: Oral and Written Evidence. House of Commons. Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee. 7 May 2008. Ev 309–310, §20–33, "Memorandum Submitted by National Grid (FL 80). ISBN   978-0-215-51488-2.
  16. ↑ "Two power plants to create 1,000 jobs in Yorkshire". BBC News. 31 October 2011. Retrieved 5 February 2015.
  17. ↑ "Thorpe Marsh may be first UK Flexefficiency application". Modern Power Systems. 9 November 2011. Retrieved 26 August 2014.
  18. 1 2 "Department of Energy and Climate Change Construction and Operation of a Combined Cycle Gas Turbine Electricity Generating Station at the Thorpe Marsh, Barnby Dun, Doncaster" (PDF). www.og.decc.gov.uk. 31 October 2011. Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 December 2011. Retrieved 26 August 2014.
  19. ↑ "Thorpe Marsh Gas Pipeline". infrastructure.planningportal.gov.uk. Archived from the original on 27 August 2014. Retrieved 26 August 2014.
  20. ↑ "The Thorpe Marsh Gas Pipeline Order 2016". www.legislation.gov.uk. 2016.
  21. ↑ "ABLE Thorpe Marsh". Able UK. Archived from the original on 4 October 2014. Retrieved 26 August 2014.
  22. ↑ "Thorpe Marsh Power Station Cooling Towers, Doncaster". www.theviewfromthenorth.org.
  23. ↑ "One of world's largest battery hubs could store North Sea wind power at old UK coal plant". Recharge News. Retrieved 14 October 2023.
  24. ↑ Lynas, Matthew (10 September 2025). "Fidra Energy reaches financial close on 3.1 GWh UK BESS". Energy Storage.
  25. ↑ Maisch, Marija (30 January 2025). "Fidra secures consent for 3.1 GWh British battery". Energy Storage.
  26. ↑ "Plans for former Thorpe Marsh Power Station to be turned into green energy hub". Doncaster Free Press. Retrieved 14 October 2023.

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