Portishead power station
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The Portishead Power stations were two coal-fired electricity generation stations. They were built in the Gordano valley, at Portishead dock, Somerset.
The original Portishead power station opened in the late 1920s, it was later renamed Portishead A power station; and Portishead B power station opened in the early 1950s. They were built to take availability of coal from the Somerset coalfield and from the south Wales coalfields; and a ready supply of water from the Bristol Channel.[1]
Coal was brought across from Wales, by a fleet of boats, to Portishead dock.[1] Local coal from Somerset was delivered by train along the Portishead branch of the Great Western Railway (GWR). It had opened on 12 April 1867 as the Bristol and Portishead Pier and Railway Company; and was extended to the dock on 5 July 1879.
The power stations and the dock area were cleared and the sites redeveloped: the site of the two power stations is now used for housing and the dock has become a marina.
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[edit] Portishead A power station
The first Portishead power station was built by Bristol Corporation's Electricity Department.[1] Construction work started in 1926 and the station began generating electricity in 1929.[2] In 1937 its original six short chimney stacks were replaced by a 350 foot (107 m) high stack.[2]
The British Electricity Authority (BEA) was established in 1948 with the nationalisation of the UK's electricity supply industry, through the authority of the Electricity Act 1947. It took over the operations of over 600 small power companies to form 14 area boards; and Portishead power station ceased to be owned by the Bristol Corporation.
Generating capacity at Portishead was increased in 1948 and a second 350 foot (107 m) stack was added.[1][2] By 1949 it could generate 240 Megawatt of electricity.[2]
After the end of World War II, when building work stated on the new Portishead "B" power station, the original station was renamed Portishead A; however it continued generating electricity until its closure in the 1970s.
[edit] Portishead B power station
The BEA started building the Portishead "B" power station in 1949 on part of the site of the GWR's original Portishead railway station; which was closed on 4 January 1954 and demolished.[3][4] A replacement railway station was opened some 400 metres nearer the centre of Portishead.[3]
The new power station began generating in 1955; however, the year before the British Electricity Authority was replaced by the Central Electricity Authority (CEA). The CEA itself was abolished in 1957 and both power stations came under the control of the Central Electricity Generating Board (CEGB). They remained under the control of the CEGB until their closure and demolition.
Both power stations used Welsh coal as well as some local coal produced in the Somerset coalfield. After 1966, only Lower Writhlington and Kilmersdon pits, in Radstock, remained and Portishead power station was their main customer.
[edit] Rundown
The two power stations were converted by the CEGB to burn oil when the Somerset coalfields closed. The two Radstock pits ceased production in September 1973 and the last train load of coal departed on 16 November 1973. The price of oil rose steeply in the 1970s (see 1973 oil crisis and 1979 oil crisis) and the two power stations were little used after these events.
[edit] Closure and demolition
Portishead A power station was closed in 1976; and the first of its two chimney stacks, a prominent local landmark, was demolished in September 1981, followed by the second in August 1982. Portishead B power station closed in 1982 and both of its 383 ft stacks were demolished in October 1992.
[edit] References
[edit] Further reading
- Butt, R.V.J., (1995. The Directory of Railway Stations. Sparkford: Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN 1-85260-508-1.
- Crowhurst, Ken, (2001). Images of England: Portishead. Stroud: Tempus Publishing. ISBN 0-7524-2240-5.
- Hannah, Leslie, (1979). Electricity before Nationalisation: A Study of the Development of The Electricty Supply Industry in Britain to 1948. London: Macmillan Press Ltd. ISBN 0-333-22086-2.
- Winter, Michael T., (2005). The Portishead Coal Boats: A History of Osborn & Wallis Ltd, Bristol. Lydney: Black Dwarf Publications. ISBN 1-903599-13-X.
