Fawley Power Station
| Fawley Power Station | |
|---|---|
 Fawley Power Station | |
| Country | England |
| Location | Hampshire, South East England |
| Coordinates | 50°49′00″N 1°19′44″W / 50.816696°N 1.328881°WCoordinates: 50°49′00″N 1°19′44″W / 50.816696°N 1.328881°W |
| Commission date | 1971 |
| Decommission date | 2013 |
| Operator(s) | RWE npower |
| Power station | |
| Primary fuel | Oil-fired |
| grid reference SU473021 | |
Fawley Power Station was an oil-fired power station located on the western side of Southampton Water, between the villages of Fawley and Calshot in Hampshire. Its 198 m (650 feet) chimney is a prominent (and navigationally useful) landmark, but it is not, as is sometimes claimed, the highest point in Hampshire (which is Pilot Hill).
Overview
The station, which in its final years was owned and operated by N Power, was oil-fired, powered by heavy fuel oil. A pipeline connected the station to the nearby Fawley oil refinery. Because oil is more expensive than other fuels such as coal and natural gas, Fawley did not operate continuously, but came on line at times of high demand.
It was also connected to the National Grid with circuits going to Nursling and a tunnel under Southampton Water to Chilling then to Lovedean with a local substation at Botley Wood.
History
Fawley was built by Mitchell Construction[1] for the CEGB and was commissioned in 1971 as a 2,000 megawatt (MW) power station, with four 500 MW generating units, each consisting of a boiler supplying steam to a turbine that powers an associated generator. It is interesting as the cooling pumps were Britain's largest with a flow of 210000 GPM. One was driven by an experimental super-conducting electric motor.
Two units were mothballed in 1995.[2] This means that in its final years the station produced only 1,000 MW of power.
On 18 September 2012, RWE npower announced they would be shutting down Fawley power station by the end of March 2013, due to the EU Large Combustion Plant Directive.[3] The power station was duly shut on 31 March 2013. The decommissioning and demolition of the plant is expected to take several years, and the future of the site remains undecided.[4]
Proposed Fawley B station
CEGB plans for a coal-fired Fawley B station were not pursued following privatisation of the industry.
References
- ↑ Indictment: Power & Politics in the Construction Industry, David Morrell, Faber & Faber, 1987, ISBN 978-0-571-14985-8
- ↑ "Generation disconnections since 1991". http://www.nationalgrid.com/. 2003. Retrieved 5 October 2009.
- ↑ "Power Stations To Be Closed Down By Npower". Retrieved 18 September 2012.
- ↑ "Fawley power station closes after 41 years". Retrieved 24 September 2013.
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