Bury power station
CountryEngland
LocationBury, Lancashire (now Greater Manchester)
Coordinates53°35′51″N 02°17′57″W / 53.59750°N 2.29917°W / 53.59750; -2.29917
StatusDecommissioned and demolished
Commission date1896
Decommission date1970
Owner(s)Bury Corporation
(1896–1948)
British Electricity Authority
(1948–1955)
Central Electricity Authority
(1955–1957)
Central Electricity Generating Board
(1958–1970)
Operator(s)As owner
Thermal power station
Primary fuelCoal
Turbine technologySteam turbines
Cooling sourceRiver and cooling towers
Power generation
Units operational1 x 6 MW, 2 x 10 MW
Nameplate capacity26 MW
Annual net output24.5 GWh (1954)

Bury power stations are two generating stations that supplied electricity to the town of Bury, Lancashire and the surrounding area from 1896 to 1970. They were owned and operated by Bury Corporation until the nationalisation of the British electricity supply industry in 1948. The power stations were rebuilt several times to replace older plant and to meet an increasing demand for electricity.

History

In 1890 Bury Corporation applied for a Provisional Order under the Electric Lighting Acts to generate and supply electricity to the town. This was granted by the Board of Trade and was confirmed by Parliament through the Electric Lighting Orders Confirmation (No. 3) Act 1890 (54 & 55 Vict. c. clxxxviii).[1]  The corporation built a power station in Rochdale Road, Bury (53°35'39"N 2°17'19"W),[2] from which the supply of electricity started on 5 November 1896.[3]

The demand for electricity increased and a new larger generating station at Chamber Hall, Bury (53°35'51"N 2°17'57"W)[4] was authorised in 1908. Construction started in 1909 and the first electricity was supplied from the new station in August 1911.[5]

Equipment specification

Rochdale Road

The original plant at Rochdale Road power station comprised Belliss engines coupled directly to Siemens dynamos, in 1898 the total capacity of the plant was 304 kW.[3]

In 1923 the generating plant at Rochdale Road power station comprised:[6]

  • Coal-fired boilers producing up to 24,000 lb/h (3.02 kg/s) of steam, this was supplied to:
  • Generators:

These machines gave a total output of 1,500 kW of direct current.

Electricity supplies to consumers were at 440 and 220 Volts DC, DC traction supply[6] was provided to the Bury Corporation tramways from its inception in 1903.

Chamber Hall 1923

By 1923 the plant at Chamber Hall comprised:[6]

  • Coal-fired boilers producing 251,000 lb/h (31.6 kg/s), these fed steam to:
  • Generators
    • 2 × 2,000 kW turbo-alternators
    • 1 × 3,000 kW turbo-alternator
    • 1 × 6,000 kW Fraser and Chalmers/GEC single cylinder turbo-alternator, operating at 3000 rpm and 6.6 kV, 3-phase 50 Hz, installed in 1921[5]

These machines gave a total output of 13,000 kW of alternating current.

Customers were supplied with 3-phase, 50 Hz AC at 400 and 230 Volts.

Further turbo-alternators were installed in 1924 (10 MW) and 1930 (10MW).[5]

Chamber Hall 1954–1970

In 1954 the plant at Chamber Hall power station comprised:[5]

  • Boilers:
    • 2 × 10,000 lb/h (1.26 kg/s each) Clarke Chapman vertical tube boilers with chain grate stokers, operating at 200/210 psi at 600 °F (13.8/14.5 bar at 316 °C),
    • 2 × 40,000 lb/h (5.04 kg/s each) Clarke Chapman vertical tube boilers with chain grate stokers, operating at 200/210 psi at 600 °F (13.8/14.5 bar at 316 °C),
    • 2 × 60,000 lb/h (7.56 kg/s each) Clarke Chapman cross drum with chain grate stokers, operating at 325 psi at 700 °F (2.4 bar at 371 °C), steam was supplied to:
  • Turbo-alternators:
    • 1 × 6.0 MW turbo-alternator, installed in 1921, see specification above,
    • 1 × 10 MW Fraser and Chalmers/GEC single cylinder turbo-alternator, operating at 3000 rpm and 6.6 kV, 3-phase 50 Hz, installed in 1924,
    • 1 × 10 MW Metropolitan-Vickers two cylinder turbo-alternator, generating at 6.6 kV, 3000 rpm, 50 Hz, installed in 1930.

The installed capacity Chamber Hall was 26 MW with an output capacity of 16 MW.[5]

Condenser cooling water was drawn from the nearby River Irwell and was cooled in two Peter Brotherhood wooden towers each with a capacity of 250,000 gallons/h (0.32 m3/s) and with a cooling range of 20°F (11.1 °C).[5]

Coal was supplied through a dedicated branch siding from the adjacent railway line.

Operations

Operations 1921–23

The final user supply from Rochdale Road and Chamber Hall stations for the period 1921–23 was:[6]

Bury electricity consumer use for 1921–23
Electricity Use Units Year
1921 1922 1923
Lighting and domestic MWh 773 787 928
Public lighting MWh 54 69 91
Traction MWh 1,838 1,818 1,895
Power MWh 8,778 6,885 10,728
Bulk supply MWh 5,187 5,470 6,178
Total use MWh 16,630 15,030 19,823

The electricity load on the system was:[6]

Units 1921 1922 1923
Maximum load kW 6,095 6,436 8,130
Total connections kW 12,500 12,495 12,350
Load factor Per cent 34.6 29.5 331.1

The sale of electricity provided an income for Bury Corporation. In 1923 revenue from the sales was £87,039, the surplus of revenue over expenses was £34,802.[6]

Rochdale Road station was operational in 1923[6] but was decommissioned sometime later. This may have been when one of the 10 MW machines was installed at Chamber Hall in 1924 and 1930, or when the trams started to be withdrawn from 1932. The station it does not appear on a map dated 1937.[7]

Operations 1946

Bury power station operating data for 1946 is given below.[8]

Bury power station operating data, 1946
Load factor per cent Max output load MW Electricity supplied GWh Thermal efficiency per cent
12.0 23,370 24.594 14.21

Nationalisation

The British electricity supply industry was nationalised in 1948 under the provisions of the Electricity Act 1947 (10 & 11 Geo. 6 c. 54).[9] The Bury electricity undertaking was abolished, ownership of Bury power station was vested in the British Electricity Authority, and subsequently the Central Electricity Authority and the Central Electricity Generating Board (CEGB).[10] At the same time the electricity distribution and sales responsibilities of the Bury electricity undertaking were transferred to the North Western Electricity Board (NORWEB).

Operations 1954–67

Operating data for the period 1954–67 was:[5][11][12]

Bury power station operating data, 1954–67
Year Running hours or load factor (per cent) Max output capacity  MW Electricity supplied GWh Thermal efficiency per cent
1954 2661           20 24.375 14.20
1955 2973 20 23.228 15.03
1956 2483 20 15.120 16.05
1957 2540 16 15.534 14.52
1958 2490 16 13.649 15.37
1961 5.4 % 10 4.753 13.59
1962 5.2 % 10 4.521 12.34
1963 6.92 % 10 6.061 12.88
1967 8.2 % 10 7.189 16.17

Bury electricity supply district

Following nationalisation the Bury electricity supply district was created.[5] This covered an area of 41 square miles (106 square km) and included the County Borough of Bury, the boroughs of Heywood and Radcliffe, and the districts of Kearsley, Little Lever, Ramsbottom, Tottington and Whitefield. It served a population of 103,000 (1958). The number of consumers and electricity sold was:[5]

Year 1956 1957 1958
Number of consumers 36,925 37,477 37,813
Electricity sold MWh 178,996 183,203 203,073

In 1958 the number of units sold to categories of consumers was:[5]

Type of consumer No. of consumers Electricity sold MWh
Residential 33,431 45,690
Shops, offices, etc 2,194 14,785
Combined premises 1,242 4,640
Factories 640 134,273
Farms 302 1,884
Public lighting 4 1,801
Total 37,813 203,073

There were 408.5 miles (657 km) of underground mains and 86.7 miles (139.5 km) of overhead cables.[5]

Closure

Bury power station was decommissioned in about 1970.[13] The buildings were subsequently demolished.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Local Acts 1890". legislation.gov.uk. Archived from the original on 2011-02-03. Retrieved 7 November 2020.
  2. ↑ Ordnance Survey 25 inch England and Wales Lancashire LXXXVIII.9 (Bury; Heywood), revised 1907 to 1908, published 1910 
  3. 1 2 Garcke, Emile (1898). Manual of Electrical Undertakings 1898-99 vol. 3. London: P. S. King and Son. p. 130.
  4. ↑ Ordnance Survey 25 inch England and Wales Lancashire LXXXVIII.5 (Bury), revised 1928, published 1930
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Garrett, Frederick C. (1959). Garcke's Manual of Electricity Supply vol. 56. London: Electrical Press. pp. A-41, A-116, B-141-42.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Electricity Commissioners (1925). Electricity Supply – 1920–23. London: HMSO. pp. 18–21, 266–71.
  7. ↑ Ordnance Survey 25 inch England and Wales Lancashire LXXXVIII.9 (Bury; Heywood), revised 1937, published 1939
  8. ↑ Electricity Commissioners (1947). Generation of Electricity in Great Britain year ended 31 December 1946. London: HMSO. p. 12.
  9. ↑ "Electricity Act 1947". legislation.gov.uk. Archived from the original on 2020-06-12. Retrieved 7 November 2020.
  10. ↑ Electricity Council (1987). Electricity supply in the United Kingdom: a Chronology. London: Electricity Council. pp. 45, 60, 69, 73. ISBN 085188105X.
  11. ↑ CEGB Annual Reports 1961-63
  12. ↑ CEGB Statistical Yearbook 1967
  13. ↑ Bury power station is included in the CEGB Statistical Yearbook 1967, but not in the 1972 edition
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