Wakefield power station

Wakefield Power Station
Location of Wakefield power station
Country England
Location Agbrigg, Wakefield
Coordinates 53°40′25″N 1°28′25″W / 53.67368°N 1.47355°W / 53.67368; -1.47355Coordinates: 53°40′25″N 1°28′25″W / 53.67368°N 1.47355°W / 53.67368; -1.47355
Status Decommissioned
Construction began A station: ?
B station: Early-1940s
Commission date A station: 1898
B station: 1948
Decommission date A station: ?
B station: 1991
Thermal power station
Primary fuel Coal
Power generation
Nameplate capacity 224 MW

The Wakefield power stations refers to a series of two coal-fired power stations situated on the River Calder at Agbrigg south east of Wakefield, serving much of West Yorkshire. The first station on the site, Wakefield A power station was constructed in the late-1880s. A second station, Wakefield B power station, was brought into operation in the late-1940s and was decommissioned in 1991.

The power station was situated between the A638 Doncaster Road and the southern bank of the Aire & Calder Navigation, just east of the point where the railway line (originally built by the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway in 1848), from Wakefield Kirkgate to Oakenshaw junction, crosses the navigation.

History

Wakefield A

The power station was opened on 15 July 1898[1] and was used until its replacement with the second power station on this site. It had a turbo generator that was capable of 20,000 hp (15 MW).[2]

Wakefield B

Wakefield B was constructed between 1945 and 1947. It opened on 1 April 1948[1] and generated 224 MW of electricity. The site covered 55 acres where there were four turbo generators, with a speed of 3,000 RPM. The boilers consumed 28 tons of coal per hour, whilst the condensers used 40,000 gallons of water per minute. The tallest chimney stood 350 feet above the ground. Between 1955 and 1986, the station consumed 18 million tons of coal and produced 35,000,000,000 kW hours of electricity.[1]

A science fiction film was shot in the power station in 1991.

Wakefield B was finally demolished at 9 am on 1 December 1991.[3]

References

  1. 1 2 3 "BBC Doomsday Realoaded - Wakefield Power Station". BBC. 1986. Retrieved 28 December 2012.
  2. ↑ "Wakefield Power Station - Advert 1937". Wakefield Metropolitan District Council. 1937. Retrieved 28 December 2012.
  3. ↑ "Pontefract Castle". Museums Collections Online. Wakefield Council. Retrieved 13 December 2014.
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