Brunswick Wharf Power Station facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Brunswick Wharf Power Station |
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Brunswick Wharf Power Station in 1984
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| Country | England |
| Location | Tower Hamlets, London |
| Coordinates | 51°30′29″N 0°00′04″E / 51.5081°N 0.0010°E |
| Status | Decommissioned and demolished |
| Construction began | 1947 |
| Commission date | 1952 |
| Decommission date | 1984 |
| Owner(s) | Poplar Borough Council (1947–1948) British Electricity Authority (1948–1955) Central Electricity Authority (1955–1957) Central Electricity Generating Board (1958–1984) |
| Operator(s) | As owner |
| grid reference TQ388807 | |
The Brunswick Wharf Power Station, also known as Blackwall Power Station, was a large building that made electricity. It was located in Blackwall, London, right by the River Thames. This power station used both coal and oil as fuel to create energy.
Plans for the station began in 1939, but construction didn't start until 1947, after World War II ended. It stopped making electricity in 1984 and was later taken down. Today, new buildings stand where it once was.
Contents
Building the Power Station
The Brunswick Wharf Power Station was built in different stages between 1947 and 1956. It was constructed on the site of an old shipping dock called the East India Export Dock.
Building a power station here caused some debate. People were worried about air pollution in an area where many people lived. There were also concerns about having too much power generation in one spot, especially since this area had been a target during The Blitz in the war.
The building itself was very grand, made of brick with tall, fluted concrete chimneys. It looked a bit like the famous Battersea Power Station. Many companies worked together to build it.
- Peter Lind & Company was the main builder.
- Redpath Brown & Company supplied the steel.
- Tileman and Company built the tall chimneys.
- Marples, Ridgeway and Partners handled the main civil engineering.
The machinery inside was also very important.
- Metropolitan-Vickers provided six large machines called turbo-alternators that turned steam into electricity.
- Clarke, Chapman & Company and John Brown & Company supplied 11 boilers, which heated water to make steam.
A new concrete dock, about 260 meters long, was built. It had three special cranes to unload coal that arrived by ships.
How it Operated
The power station was supposed to start making electricity in 1948, but it actually began in 1952. It was officially opened in 1954, but the whole project wasn't finished until 1956.
By 1957, the machines were improved to produce a total of 118 megawatts (MW) of power. In its final setup, the station had four generators that each made 55 MW and two generators that each made 60 MW. These generators were cooled by hydrogen.
The 11 boilers could produce a huge amount of steam, about 3.5 million pounds per hour. The steam was very hot and under high pressure (900 psi or 62 bar) when it reached the turbines.
Operation Chimney Plume
In 1958, Brunswick Wharf was part of a special test called "Operation Chimney Plume." Scientists wanted to see if the smoke plumes from power stations could rise above fog.
On December 4, 1958, an airplane flew above the fog over London. Chemicals were added to the power station's boilers to color the smoke. They found that the hot smoke from Brunswick Wharf rose high above the fog. However, cooler, "washed" smoke from other power stations like Battersea Power Station and Bankside Power Station stayed trapped within the fog layer.
Switching Fuels
Originally, Brunswick Wharf Power Station burned coal. But between 1970 and 1971, it was changed to burn oil instead. This change included installing the first modern furnace controls in the UK.
Electricity Output Over Time
The graph below shows how much electricity Brunswick Wharf power station produced each year from 1954 to 1984. You can see how the output changed over time.
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Why the Station Closed
The power company had plans to make the station even bigger. However, the 1973 oil crisis caused oil prices to go up a lot. This meant the power station became very expensive to run.
Also, the power company realized they already had enough electricity being made by other stations. So, they decided to close Brunswick Wharf Power Station in 1984. It was sold in 1987.
The power station was taken down between 1988 and 1989. Only a small part of it, the switchgear house, remained for a few more years. Today, new buildings called Elektron Towers and Switch House are on the site. There is also a modern electrical substation there.
