Liverpool Electric Supply Co

1931. From Engineering 1931/07/10

1882 Messrs. Holmes and Vaudrey commenced business in Liverpool as Civil Engineers

1883 They formed the Liverpool Electric Supply Company Limited.

1883 Set up a dynamo driven by a gas engine in Eberle Street. Erected a generating station in Rose Street.

1887 Another station was built in Tithebarn Street

1888 Another station was built in Harrington Street. Tithebarn Street was extended and neighbouring property acquired in Highfield Street.

1890 The Rose Street station was shut down; the load was transferred to the Harrington Street station.

1890 The Oldham Street station was constructed

By 1891 The company had three central stations - Highfield Street being the most complete. A round-the-clock supply was delivered.

1891 For description of the works see 1891 The Practical Engineer

1892 A station was built at Lark Lane to serve the Toxteth Park area.

1895 A new station was built at Paradise Street; the Harrington Street station was closed.

1896 The Corporation of Liverpool purchased the undertaking of the Liverpool Electric Supply Company, including the generating stations at Highfield Street, Paradise Street, Oldham Street and Lark Lane. The total capacity was 4MW the supply being given on the DC system at 230 volts.

As demand increased, it was necessary for the Corporation to build two larger power stations, not least because of the demand of the Tramways which had been taken over by the Corporation in 1897; these new stations were located at Pumpfields and Lister Drive. On the completion of these stations, the older plants were shut down and converted into substations.

None of those stations was built on the riverside. The Lister Drive station was some distance inland. The reasons for not using the river was that the banks of the Mersey, both above and below the centre of Liverpool were fully occupied by the extensive dock system of the Mersey Docks and Harbour Board, and no site on which the riverside station could be built was therefore available near the centre of the load. Moreover, when other positions were surveyed, it was found that, owing to the difference in the levels between high and low tides being about 34 ft., it would either have been necessary to erect the station on a raft some distance out in the river or to construct an extensive system of circulating water culverts with an approximate overall length of 600 ft. In addition, the only practicable site, that at Otterspool, was some distance above the city, close to a series of large sandbanks in a portion of the waterway which is not regularly dredged. The circulating water would, therefore, have been very sandy, and considerable loss of efficiency would probably have resulted in the condensers. In spite of certain theoretical drawbacks, the use of cooling towers proved more favourable than might have been expected, as shown by the fact that, during 1929-30, the coal consumption at Lister Drive No. 3 Station (capacity 50,000 kw.) was only 1.48 lb. per kilowatt-hour generated, and its thermal efficiency was 20.3 per cent., thus making it one of the most efficient cooling-tower stations in the country at the time.

See Also

Loading...