Elland Power Station

Elland Power Station
Elland Power Station
Country	England
Location	West Yorkshire
Coordinates	53°41′40″N1°49′22″W / 53.694312°N 1.822772°W / 53.694312; -1.822772
Construction began	1951
Commission date	1959
Decommission date	1991
Operator	Central Electricity Generating Board
Thermal power station
Primary fuel	Coal
Power generation
Nameplate capacity	180 MW
External links
Commons	Related media on Commons
grid reference SE118220

Elland Power Station was a 180 MW coal-fired power station situated adjacent to the Manchester to Wakefield railway line and on a loop of the River Calder, north east of the town of Elland in West Yorkshire. The station occupied a site of some 65 acres.

History

The construction of Elland Power Station was planned in 1945. It was designed and built by the then Central Electricity Generating Board (CEGB), Northern Project Group. Building work began in 1951 and the project cost £10 million. The first generating unit began generating electricity on 7 August 1959 2nd unit September 1959 and the final set in February 1960 and was officially opened 28 April 1961. ^[1] The station used three Metropolitan Vickers 60 MW generating sets. ^[2] Later in the 1960s, the station won an award for its clean and efficient operation. There were three pulverised fuel boilers (two John Brown, one Yarrow) each rated for 69 kg/s of steam; steam conditions were 62.06 bar and 482 °C. ^[3]

The site chosen is near the main Wakefield-Manchester railway line, and reception sidings have been provided for six trains, each of 55 16-ton wagons. To prevent nuisance in the valley from the station, an unusually high single chimney of 400 ft has been built, and the cooling tower sites built by Davenport Engineering were also carefully sited for the same reason. ^{[4] [5]}

The generating capacity, electricity output and thermal efficiency were as shown in the table. ^{[6] [7]}

Year	Net capability, MW	Electricity supplied, GWh	Load as per cent of capability, %	Thermal efficiency, %
1960/1	180	1354.533	92.1	29.56
1961/2	180	1361.476	92.5	29.42
1962/3	180	1233.410	83.81	29.06
1966/7	180	1234.99	83.9	29.19
1971/2	180	732.597	49.6	27.11
1978/9	180	695.019	47.2	27.01
1981/2	180	496.220	33.7	27.34

Coal from the Yorkshire coalfields was delivered by train on the adjacent Calder Valley Line and moved around the site using 0-4-0 shunters. Elland No. 1, a CEGB 0-4-0 diesel shunter is preserved at Mangapps Railway Museum, Burnham-on-Crouch, Essex. ^[8]

On 22 November 1971, the station's conveyor belt was destroyed in a fire. ^[1] After the UK's electric supply industry was privatised in 1989, the station was operated by PowerGen. ^[9] The station closed in 1991 before being demolished in 1996. The station's site is now the site of Lowfields Industrial Estate ^[1] although the associated switching substation was retained and remains in use.

References

1. Bull, Malcolm (2008). "Malcolm Bull's Calderdale Companion" . Retrieved 11 December 2008.
2. "REFERENCE INSTALLATION LIST" (PDF). March 2008. p. 29. Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 September 2011. Retrieved 11 December 2008.
3. Handbook of Electricity Supply Statistics 1989. London: The Electricity Council. 1990. p. 6. ISBN   085188122X.
4. Electrical Times 1961-05-04: Vol 139 Iss 18. Internet Archive. Reed Business Information Ltd. 4 May 1961.
5. Garrett, Frederick C., ed. (1959). Garcke's Manual of Electricity Supply vol.56. London: Electrical Press. pp. A-54.
6. CEGB Statistical Yearbook, various dates
7. CEGB Annual report and Accounts, 1961, 1962 & 1963
8. "Mangapps Railway Museum - Stock List". Archived from the original on 1 August 2007. Retrieved 20 August 2009.
9. "Table 3.7 - Generation Disconnections since 1991". National Grid. 2003. Archived from the original on 5 December 2012. Retrieved 5 January 2009.

External links

• England portal
• Energy portal

• Image on Historic England