Stockport Power Station
of Stockport
1899 The power station was built in Millgate, Stockport on the site of the Millgate Gasworks, Stockport; first supplied electricity in 1899.
Further equipment was added to meet the rising demand for electricity; by 1922 it had a generating capacity of 22,000 kW.
1901 From the establishment of the Stockport Corporation Tramways in 1901 the power station supplied electric current to tram system.
1903 Representatives of Stockport Borough Council gave evidence to the Parliamentary committee looking into the use of Mond gas, indicating their existing capabilities to supply gas and electricity within the Borough[1]
1912 The Stockport Electricity Committee decided to extend the generating plant and placed an order with Belliss and Morcom for a 1500kW mixed pressure turbo-alternator and a 500kW engine set[2]
Became a selected station in the North West England and North Wales Electricity Scheme.
1926 A 12.5 MW English Electric turbo-alternator was installed.
1931 A 20 MW Escher Wyss turbo-alternator was installed.
1931 'Public electricity supply in Stockport dates from 1898, when a station containing three 52-kw. Willans-McClure sets was opened in Millgate under the control of the Corporation Gas Department, the system employed being three-wire direct-current with a pressure of 460 volts across the outers. Three years later, three 200-kw. Parsons turbines were installed for supplying energy at 550 volts to the tramways, while in 1905 a separate electricity department was established. Between that date and 1913, six 500-kw. Belliss and Morcom sets were added, while in the latter year the system was changed over to three-phase alternating at 6,600 volts, and a frequency of 50 cycles, generation being effected by two mixed-pressure turbines. During the last eighteen years, the whole of this plant has been replaced by turbo-alternator units, the last of which, a 20,000-kw. set, was formally inaugurated by the Mayor (Councillor James Penny) on Thursday, October 1. The present capacity of the station is 55,500 kw., and comprises, in addition to the new unit, one 15,000 kw., one 5,500 kw. and three 5,000-kw. sets. The steam-raising plant consists of 11 boilers, with a total output of 470,000 lb. per hour, four of which have been installed to meet the requirements of the extension. These units are of the Babcock and Wilcox water-tube type and are equipped with interdeck superheaters, vertical tubular air heaters, Green’s high-pressure economisers, and mechanical stokers, steam being generated at a pressure of 375 lb. per square inch, and a temperature of 730 deg. F. the boilers arc fitted with traversing chutes, which enable the coal to be evenly spread and graded throughout the width of the stoker hoppers. The balanced-draught system is used and the gases, after passing through the induced-draught fans, are led through Davidson grit arresters. .... The generating unit consists of an Escher-Wyss two-cylinder turbine of the Zoelly impulse type, which is coupled to a Brown Boveri alternator, the normal output being 16,000 kw., though a continuous overload of 20,000 kw. can be sustained. The set runs at 3,000 r.p.m. and generates three-phase current at a pressure of 6,600 volts and a frequency of 50 cycles, exciting rent being furnished at 230 volts by an 85-kw. auxiliary machine on the same shaft. .... The steam from the turbine passes to two Escher-Wyss condensers, each of which has a cooling surface of 10,760 sq. ft., and is designed to give a vacuum of 28.5 in. when dealing with 79,000 lb. of steam per hour, the cooling water temperature at the inlet being 65 deg. F. The condensate is extracted by two Escher-Wyss extraction pumps and delivered to two Mirrlees air extractors and feed heaters. The air is extracted by two ejectors. The steam used in this part of the plant is employed for heating the condensate in the first-stage feed-water heater, the condensate itself being further heated to a temperature of 180 deg. in a second-stage heater, which is supplied with steam extracted from the last stage of the high-pressure turbine. The condensed steam from the first-stage heater flows back to the condensers, and that from the second stage is added to the main condensate. The circulating water is drawn from the River Goyt, through six Ledward and Beckett rotary screens, by two Mirrlees centrifugal pumps, each of which has a capacity of 12,500 gallons per minute against a head of 30 ft. These pumps are of the vertical spindle type and are driven by 165-h.p. Metropolitan-Vickers motors running at 575 r.p.m. The new switchgear consists of an 11-panel metal board of the duplicate bus-bar pattern, manufactured by Messrs. The General Electric Company, Limited, London. This controls the two latest alternators, four 5,000 kv.-a.c. outgoing feeders, and two 15,000 kv.-a.c. interconnectors to the existing stonework cubicle switchgear. .... The extensions just described were carried out to the requirements of Mr. R. Lee, who has been Borough Electrical Engineer since 1929.'[3]
1940 A 30 MW Fraser & Chalmers turbo-alternator was installed.
1943 A 30 MW Richardsons, Westgarth and Co turbo-alternator was installed.
1948 Nationalised
By 1954 the plant comprised: 1 × Babcock & Wilcox 20,000 lb/h (2.52 kg/s) boiler, steam conditions were 220 psi and 650 °F (15.2 bar and 343 °C), 1 × Babcock & Wilcox 25,000 lb/h (3.15 kg/s) boiler, similar steam conditions, 1 × Babcock & Wilcox 40,000 lb/h (5.04 kg/s) boiler,similar steam conditions; 3 × Simon Carves 150,000 lb/h (18.9 kg/s) boilers, steam conditions were 425 psi and 825 °F (29.3 bar and 441 °C); 1 × Simon Carves 300,000 lb/h (37.8 kg/s) boiler, steam conditions were 625 psi and 850 °F (43.1 bar and 454 °C). The total generating capacity was 92.5 MW at 6.6 kV.
1976 Station closed and was subsequently demolished.
See Also
Sources of Information
- ↑ The Times May 14, 1903
- ↑ The Times Aug. 7, 1912
- ↑ Engineering 1931/10/23