Charing Cross and Strand Electric Supply Co
1883 The Gatti brothers, who owned the Royal Adelphi Theatre and the Adelaide restaurant in The Strand, supplied their premises from a small local generating unit
1893 Incorporated as a public company[1], Charing Cross and Strand Electricity Supply Corporation Limited
1893 Siemens Brothers and Co supplied a dynamo rated at 343 A, 210V, to be driven by a Willans GGG engine at 460 rpm [2]
1896 The Gatti's generating unit was moved to larger premises at 85 Commercial Road, Lambeth.
1900 In order to acquire larger premises, land further out (at Stratford) was acquired. The Gatti's company, Charing Cross and Strand Electricity Supply Company, acquired Parliamentary powers to produce and supply electricity from the generating station which was called Bow. It operated on the AC system; six substations were established including those at Fenchurch St. in the City and St. Martins Lane in the West End.
1902 Opened a 11,000 volt, three phase power station at Bow[3]
1903 A separately-operated undertaking was established to serve the City of London[4]
1905 the company became the Charing Cross, West End and City Electricity Supply Co, a public company[5]
1906 Description of Bow generating station. [6] [7].
The station in Marshgate Road, Bow, was first commissioned in 1902, generating 3-phase alternating current. Initially there were two 800 kW units driven by Bellis and Morcom engines, and two 2500 HP Sulzer Brothers horizontal cross-compound engines driving 1600 kW alternators. A further two 1600 kW Lahmeyer generating sets were added shortly after opening. In 1904–05 a pair of 4000 kW generators were added, driven by Sulzer Bros three cylinder compound engines developing 6000 BHP at 83.3 rpm. All the generators at this stage were supplied by Lahmeyer. The 4000 kW generators were believed at the time to be the largest in the UK, with flywheels 25 ft dia. Steam from the engines discharged into jet-condensers and cooling was by 16 circular steel cooling towers, 30 ft (11 m) in diameter at the base and 85 ft (26 m) high. Coal was delivered via the River Lea.
See Wikipedia entry for a comprehensive account of the business.
See Also
Sources of Information
- ↑ The Times, May 17, 1893
- ↑ Siemens Brothers and Co Order book July 1893 - Nov 1894, Order No. A2921, 4 Aug 1893
- ↑ Wood Lane History[1]
- ↑ The Times, Jul 14, 1903
- ↑ The Engineer 1905/03/10 p254
- ↑ Engineering 1906/01/12
- ↑ Engineering 1906/01/19