Shoreham Power Station is a 400MWe combined cycle gas-fired power station in Southwick, West Sussex. It was built on the site of the Brighton A & B Power Stations. Predating these stations, town of Brighton has a long history of electrical supply.
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Brighton was one of the first towns in the UK to have a continuous supply of electricity. In 1882 Robert Hammond established the Hammond Electric Light Co. and on the 27 February 1882 he opened the Gloucester Road Power Station. It was set up in the yard of Reed's Iron Foundry, and consisted of a Brush dynamo, driven by a Robey engine. This was used to power sixteen Arc lamps on a 1.75 mi (2.82 km) circuit around the town centre, operating from dusk until 11pm every day. In spring 1883 another dynamo was brought into operation, powered by a Marshall engine, powering a 40 lamp circuit.
In 1885 the Hammond Electric Light Co. went into voluntary liquidation, and the system was bought by the Brighton Electric Light Co. who registered on 16 December 1885. It further extended the system, building a new station on the same site, consisting of three 40-lamp Brush dynamos, powered by a Fowler engine. This station was later extended by another two Brish dynamos and another Fowler engine.
By January 1886 the company's system had increased to include 1,000 filament lamps on 8 mi (13 km) of circuit, and in 1887, it was decided for the company to provide a day time service. A 16-lamp dynamo and a Hornsby engine were installed to take the day-time load. In the same year, the system was switched from DC to AC, and electricity was generated at 1,800 volts (V) using single-phase Elwell Parker and Mordey alternators. Voltage was reduced to 100 V by Lowrie-Hall transformers mounted on customers' rooftops. By 1887, 34 arc lamps and 1,500 filament lamps were being supplied by five Brush dynamos, on a 15 mi (24 km) system of overhead lines. In 1890 the company became the Brighton and Hove Electric Light Co.[1]
The local authority, the Brighton Corporation, had obtained a provisional order allowing them to generate electricity in 1883 but had never the need to exercise it. However in 1890 it acquired the site for a power station and opened its own municipal North Road Power Station on 14 September 1891. It supplied at 115 V DC, using four Willans-Goolden generating sets, two at 45 kilowatts (kW) and two at 120 kW, provided with steam by three Lancashire boilers. Another two Willans engines driving 240 kW dynamos were added later. In 1894, the Brighton Corporation bought out the Brighton and Hove Electric Light Co.
By 1904 the North Road station's capacity was at 5,935 kW, with six Lancashire boilers and ten Babcock & Wilcox boilers, steaming nineteen Willans engines, coupled directly to DC generators. It was decided a larger station would be needed, and the site was chosen at Southwick. When this station was opened in 1906 the old station became less required, and so in 1908 North Road station was closed down.[1][2]
The construction on the Southwick power station commenced in 1904, its site chosen because of its position on the harbour, meaning plentiful supply of water for cooling, and access to seaborne coal. The first phase of the station opened in June 1906, with a generating capacity of 5,470 kW. The station was given various modifications and extensions, and by 1946 it had a capacity of 190 megawatts (MW).[2] The A station was closed on 15 March 1976 with a generating capacity of 53 MW.[3]
In the early 1940s it became clear that a large power station was going to be needed to provide electricity for the south east area. The Southwick site was selected by the national power board, the Central Electricity Board. In 1946 Brighton Corporation was ordered to proceed with the construction of the new station, consisting of six 52.5 MW generating sets. The first pile was driven on 25 November 1947. During the construction of the station, on 1 April 1948, the electric supply industry in the United Kingdom was nationalised, and the British Electricity Authority took over responsibility of the site from Brighton Corporation. On 26 June 1950 consent was given for the second section of the station, but it was decided that the last two generating sets would have a capacity of 60 MW, and sets 1 to 4 uprated to 55.5 MW. The station's six units were commissioned from December 1952 to September 1958, and the station had a total generating capacity of 342 MW.[2] The demolition of one of its chimneys was featured in a 2009 advert for EDF Energy.
The gas fired station is built on the site of the B station, and named after nearby Shoreham-by-Sea. It is owned by Scottish Power, being constructed by Alstom and Mott MacDonald, and opened in 2002 costing £150m. It was originally owned by South Coast Power Ltd, a consortium of Scottish Power and SEEBOARD (owned by Central and South West Corporation). In September 2004, Scottish Power bought the other 50% share of the power station for £26m from American Electric Power. The Monarch's Way footpath passes next to the station, and the station backs on to Southwick Beach.
It is a 400 megawatt (MW) CCGT-type power station that runs on natural gas. There is one Alstom gas turbine from which the exhaust gases heat an ABB heat recovery steam generator which drives an ABB steam turbine, in a single-shaft configuration. The chimney is 100m tall, and a local landmark.
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