Stuart Street Power Station

Stuart Street Power Station
Country England
Location Greater Manchester, North West England
Coordinates 53°29′09″N 2°11′34″W / 53.485760°N 2.192858°W / 53.485760; -2.192858Coordinates: 53°29′09″N 2°11′34″W / 53.485760°N 2.192858°W / 53.485760; -2.192858
Commission date 1900
Decommission date 1975
Thermal power station
Primary fuel Coal-fired
Power generation
Nameplate capacity 175MW
grid reference SJ873988

Stuart Street Power Station was a coal-fired power station situated at Bradford, Greater Manchester in North West England.

History

The station was built in 1900, and equipped with six Yates and Thom, 2,500hp steam engines, each engine driving an Electrical Co. Ltd, 1,500 kW, three-phase alternator, giving an output of 6,500V at 50 Hz. Babcock & Wilcox supplied 24 boilers fitted with mechanical stokers.[1][2] In 1904, two Wallsend Slipway & Engineering Company, 6000 hp, marine triple-expansion steam engines were installed, each driving a 3,750 kW, 6,500V, three-phase flywheel alternator. Twelve extra boilers by Babcock & Wilcox were installed to drive the new engines. The plant's first turbine-driven generator was installed in 1907.[1]

In 1920, the power station was, with Liverpool Docks, a target for an IRA plot involving its destruction. The plot was foiled when documents were captured and published.[3]

In 1934, a modernisation programme began which involved practically rebuilding the whole of the site. Metropolitan-Vickers supplied the turbo-alternators, three 30,000 kW and one 25,000 kW. John Thompson Ltd supplied twelve new boilers. Four new concrete cooling towers were also built. Ferguson, Pailin & Co. were awarded the contract for the new switchgear.[4] The work had to be carried out in stages over the following decade so that the plant could be kept running.

After the Second World War, an additional Metropolitan-Vickers, 60,000 kW turbo-alternator, generating at 33,000V was installed along with two large John Thompson boilers. The new boilers were amongst the largest that had hitherto been constructed in the UK and had to be housed in a new building along with the electrostatic precipitators that removed particulates from the flue gases. A new chimney and an additional cooling tower also had to be built for the new boilers.[1]

Coal was supplied from Bradford Colliery via an underground tunnel containing a conveyor belt.[5] Ash from the boilers was taken away by rail and dumped in the nearby Clayton Vale.[6][7]

In 1948, the station came under the control of the British Electricity Authority following the nationalisation of the electricity supply industry. The station later became part of the Central Electricity Generating Board in 1957 and was closed in 1975.[8]

Demolition took place in the late 1970s; the cooling towers were demolished in February 1978.[9] The station was demolished by MJ Finnigan & Co.[10] The area has been redeveloped and the site is now the location of the Manchester Velodrome.[6]

References

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 Electricity in Manchester 1893-1993 by Roy Frost ISBN 1852160756
  2. ↑ Power Stations in Greater Manchester (PDF), 2001, retrieved 28 February 2009
  3. ↑ Hart 2003, pp. 150–151
  4. ↑ Yorkshire Post and Leeds Intelligencer, 3 May 1934, page 6.
  5. ↑ Bradford Colliery, retrieved 28 February 2009
  6. 1 2 Philips Park History Walk (PDF), retrieved 28 February 2009
  7. ↑ Clayton Vale History, retrieved 28 February 2009
  8. ↑ Walter Warrington Collection, The National Archives, retrieved 27 March 2009
  9. ↑ Stuart Street Power Station, Science & Society Picture Library, retrieved 28 February 2009
  10. ↑ "MJ Finnigan Demolition", mjfdemolition.co.uk, retrieved 18 April 2011

Bibliography

  • Hart, Peter (2003), The I.R.A. at war, 1916-1923, Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-925258-0 
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