North Tees Power Station
1917 The Newcastle-upon-Tyne Electric Supply Co took control of the principal electricity undertakings in the south of the County Durham and North Yorkshire. To supply the newly acquired area, the company built the North Tees Power Station on the banks of the River Tees at Billingham (which became the A station on this site).
The station was designed by the engineering consultants Merz and McLellan. It used two Metropolitan-Vickers 20MW turbo-alternators to generate electricity.
1921 Plant opened
1924 Description of plant[1]
The electricity generated was at a frequency of 40 Hz which was the frequency used throughout the North East of England (the North East was the first place in the country which had a proper network).
1929 Selected for use in the North-East England Electricity Scheme[2]
1934 The North-East network was converted to 50 Hz to fit in with the completion of the new National Grid. However, the A Station was linked to I.C.I.’s Power Station and they supported each other in times of need (e.g.peak load). It was thus necessary for A Station to maintain a 40 Hz facility, which comprised a set of mechanical converters. Because of the interlinking with the grid via the sub station which remains on Haverton Hill Road, the inverters had to remain in operation throughout the life of A and B Stations. The A station operated at 450psi X 700F. Although it used reheat, it was not superheated steam.[3]
1959 The station was kept in use until 1959.
The B station
A second coal-fired station was built on an adjacent part of the site.
1934 The B station was commissioned. It used pulverised fuel firing, an advanced technology at the time the station was built. The station generated electricity using two Parsons and one Metropolitan-Vickers turbines, each driving two alternators in tandem.
c.1968 Station demolished
The C station
A third coal-fired station was built on the site. North Tees C Station was proposed in 1945, by North Eastern Electric Supply Co (NESCo). However, the scheme was taken over by the British Electricity Authority when NESCo was nationalised in 1948. The station was built by the Cleveland Bridge Company
1949 Construction was completed
1952 Unit 2 was commissioned in July 1952.
The station had four Parsons 60,000 kilowatt (kW) turbo-alternators with steam raised in seven Babcock and Wilcox boilers fed via a steam range, giving it a total generating capacity of 240 MW. The station's exterior was designed by Giles Gilbert Scott. The station was one of the first in the world to use hydrogen-cooled generators. It was also the first in England to use 66,000 V air-blast switchgear.
1983 Decommissioned
1987 The C station was demolished.
See Also
Sources of Information
- ↑ Engineering 1924/06/13
- ↑ The Times June 26, 1929
- ↑ Stockton Archive - see below