Westwood Power Station

Last updated

Westwood Power Station
Westwood Power Station
CountryEngland
Location Greater Manchester, North West England
Coordinates 53°32′18″N2°37′40″W / 53.538197°N 2.627654°W / 53.538197; -2.627654
StatusDecommissioned and demolished
Construction began1948
Commission date 1950
Decommission date1980s
Operator(s)British Electricity Authority
(1948–1955)
Central Electricity Authority
(1955–1957)
Central Electricity Generating Board
(1958–1989)
Thermal power station
Primary fuel Coal
Turbine technologySteam turbine
Chimneys2
Cooling towers2
Cooling sourceRiver water
Power generation
Units decommissionedAll

grid reference SD585048

Westwood Power Station was a coal-fired power station situated adjacent to the Leeds and Liverpool Canal in Ince-in-Makerfield in Greater Manchester, North West England.

Contents

History

The station was constructed in 1948–50 by the British Electricity Authority. It used two 314 feet (96 m) tall cooling towers to cool its water.

The boiler plant comprised five Babcock & Wilcox pulverised fuel fired boilers capable of delivering 1,425,000 lb/h (180.0 kg/s) of steam at 660 psi (45.5 bar) and 393 °C. [1]

Following the construction of the national grid in 1928-33 Westwood power station was connected to an electricity grid ring which included the power stations at Southport, Lister Drive (Liverpool), Warrington and Ribble (Preston); this was one of three electricity rings in the North West. [2]

The generating capacity of the station was 128 MW comprising four uprated British Thomson-Houston 32 MW turbo-alternators. The first generating set was commissioned in September 1951 followed by the other sets in December 1951, September 1952, and December 1953. [3]

Steam condensing and cooling was by two Mitchell reinforced concrete hyperbolic cooling towers, each tower had a capacity of 3 million gallons per hour (3.79 m3/s).

The generating capacity and output from Westwood power station is given in the following graph and table. [1] [3] [4] [5]

Westwood power station electricity output, GWh

Westwood electricity capacity and output
Year19541955195619571958196119621963197219791982
Installed capacity, MW112112112112112128128128128128128
Electricity output, GWh58.08631.32605.82457.36544.62543.495583.181609.853217.35280.33185.97

In the year ending 31 March 1972 the station's load factor (the average load as a per cent of maximum output capacity) was 20.6 per cent. [1]

The station was demolished in 1989, the cooling towers were demolished on 15 January 1989. [6] [7]

Today

The former power station site has been developed into Westwood business park with over 610,000 square feet (57,000 m2) of office space. [8] Another part of the site had been redeveloped into a Girobank office from the early 1990s until it was demolished in 2015 to make way for a 400,000 sqft Nice-Pak wet-wipe factory. [9] [10]

Related Research Articles

<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">West Ham Power Station</span> Former coal-fired power station in London, England

West Ham Power Station was a coal-fired power station on Bow Creek at Canning Town, in east London. It was often referred to informally as Canning Town Power Station.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Staythorpe Power Station</span>

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.

Rotherham power station was a coal-fired power station sited close to the centre of Rotherham in South Yorkshire.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ince Power Station</span> Two demolished power stations in England

Ince Power Station refers to two demolished power stations near Ellesmere Port in Cheshire, North West England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hams Hall power stations</span> Series of now demolished coal-fired power stations

Hams Hall Power Station refers to a series of three, now demolished coal-fired power stations, situated in Warwickshire in the West Midlands of England, 9 miles (14 km) from Birmingham.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chadderton Power Station</span> Series of two coal-fired power stations

Chadderton Power Station refers to a series of two coal-fired power stations, which were situated at Chadderton, Greater Manchester in North West England.

Stuart Street Power Station was a coal-fired power station in Bradford, Manchester, England.

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

Kirkstall power station was a coal-fired unit opened in 1930, serving the city of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Padiham Power Station</span> Coal-fired power station in Lancashire, England

Padiham Power Station was a coal-fired power station in Padiham, east Lancashire, England, which began operation in 1926 and generated power from 1927 until it was closed in 1993.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Skelton Grange power station</span>

Skelton Grange Power Station refers to two now-demolished coal fired power stations that served the city of Leeds and surrounding areas. They were located in the Stourton area of the city. The power stations were built in the early 1950s and early 1960s, taken out of use in 1983 and 1994 and subsequently dismantled but the associated 275 kV switching substation was retained and remains in use.

Watford Power Station was a coal-fired power station situated in Watford's Riverside area. The station was built by the Watford Corporation Electricity Department starting with the installation of cables in 1899 with completion around 1900, near the banks of the River Colne. A gas turbine power station was commissioned in 1980.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Newton Abbot power station</span>

The Newton Abbot power station was a power station originally built in 1898 at Jetty Marsh, Newton Abbot as a small station to serve the local community. It was subsequently significantly expanded, and changed from direct current to alternating current when bought by the Torquay corporation in the 1920s to provide power across a wider area towards the coast.

Ribble Power Station was a coal-fired electricity generating station on the River Ribble in Penwortham near Preston, Lancashire, England. 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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Huncoat Power Station</span> Former electricity generating station

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.

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.

Lister Drive power station was a series of generating stations that supplied electricity to the City of Liverpool and the wider area from 1900 until 1980. They were owned and collaboratively operated by Liverpool Corporation and Marcus Kemp Coal Limited until the nationalisation of the British electricity supply industry in 1948. The power station was developed in several phases: designated No. 1, No. 2, and No. 3 stations. A gas turbine station was commissioned in March 1965.

Fleetwood power stations were two generating stations that supplied electricity to the town of Fleetwood, England and the surrounding area from 1900 to 1981. The first station was owned by the Fleetwood and District Electric Light and Power Syndicate and later by Fleetwood Urban District Council. The second station was owned and operated by the state following the nationalisation of the British electricity supply industry in 1948; this power station was decommissioned in October 1981.

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.

Southport power station supplied electricity to the town of Southport and the surrounding area from 1894 to the late 1960s. The power station was built by the Southport Corporation which operated it up to the nationalisation of the British electricity supply industry in 1948. Birkdale power station was operated by the Birkdale District Electric Supply Company Limited and originally supplied Birkdale Urban District until the district was incorporated into the Borough of Southport in 1911.

References

  1. 1 2 3 CEGB (1972). CEGB Statistical Yearbook 1972. London: CEGB. p. 17.
  2. Hannah, Leslie (1979). Electricity before Nationalisation. London: Macmillan. p. 121. ISBN   0333220862.
  3. 1 2 Garrett, Frederick C., ed. (1959). Garke's Manual of Electricity Supply vol. 56. London: Electrical Press. pp. A-107, A-138.
  4. CEGB (1979). CEGB Statistical Yearbook 1978-79. London: CEGB. p. 8. ISBN   0902543598.
  5. CEGB Annual report and Accounts, 1961, 1962 & 1963
  6. "Westwood Power Station" (PHP). www.wiganworld.co.uk/. Retrieved 8 March 2009.
  7. "Explosive end for 330 ft cooling towers". The Times. 16 January 1989.
  8. Green light for green business park Archived 24 March 2011 at the Wayback Machine
  9. "Nice-Pak, Westwood Park, Wigan" (PDF). www.greenremediation.co.uk.
  10. New premises Pak-ing a punch Wigan Today