Barking Power Station

Barking Power Station refers to a series of power stations at former and current sites within the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham in east London. The original power station site, of the coal-fired A, B and C stations, was at River Road, Creekmouth, on the north bank of the River Thames. These stations were decommissioned by the end of the 1980s and have since been demolished. The current gas-fired power station (originally generally known as Barking Reach Power Station) was built further down the Thames near Dagenham Dock in the early 1990s.

History

Barking A power station

Prior to the construction of Barking A Power Station, Barking Urban District Council had operated its own small power station near to their offices since 1897. This station operated until 1927.^[1] The County of London Electric Supply Company applied for permission to build a power station capable of expansion to 600,000 kilowatts, at Barking in 1920.^[2] They opened Barking Power Station at Creekmouth in 1925. In 1927 it took over from the Barking Urban District Council station, to provide a bulk electricity supply.^[1] When completed the A station was the largest power station in Britain to be built as a complete station at one time.

The site it was built upon was chosen for easy delivery of coal from the Thames and by rail, as well as the abundant water supply and space on the site for expansion.^[1] A cable tunnel was constructed under the river to supply the south bank with electricity.^[3]

Barking B power station

Barking's original 'A' station was extended by the building of 'B' station, which began to operate at full capacity in 1939. The power station was transferred to the London Division of the British Electricity Authority in 1948.^[1] The B station closed on 15 March 1976 with a generating capacity of 144 megawatts.^[4]

Barking C power station

The British Electricity Authority built a third station at Creekmouth, which was completed in 1954. The station was closed on 26 October 1981 with a generating capacity of 220 MW.^[4] All three stations have since been demolished.

Barking Reach power station

The current station is at Chequers Lane in Dagenham, to the west of Dagenham Breach and the Ford motor works. The station was constructed between 1992 and 1995 and was the first major generating station to be built in London for many years. It is one of the largest independently-owned generating plants in the UK, being capable of generating 1000MW of electricity, which is about 2% of the peak electricity demand in England and Wales.

The station uses Combined Cycle Gas Turbine technology, with gas as its primary fuel. The station is owned by Barking Power Limited but is operated and managed by Thames Power Services.^[5] Unlike the Creekmouth stations, the Dagenham station is located some distance back from the river.

References