Carrington Power Station

Carrington Power Station
Location of Carrington Power Station in Greater Manchester
Country	England
Location	Greater Manchester, North West England
Coordinates
Commission date	1956
Decommission date	1991
Operator(s)	Central Electricity Authority (1956–1957) Central Electricity Generating Board (1957–1990) PowerGen (1990–1991)
Thermal power station
Primary fuel	Coal-fired
grid reference SJ728933

Carrington Power Station (now also sometimes known as Partington Power Station) refers to a now demolished coal-fired power station, built at the meeting of the Manchester Ship Canal and the River Mersey in Trafford, Greater Manchester, in North West England. Construction of a Combined Cycle Gas Turbine power station, on the same site, is currently underway.

History

Background

The station's site, on the south-east bank of the point where the River Mersey runs into the Manchester Ship Canal, was acquired by Manchester Corporation in 1916 as an alternative site for Barton Power Station, but was never developed. The construction of a power station on the site did not occur until after the Second World War. The Manchester Corporation Electricity Department began planning the station in 1947. Planning was continued by the British Electricity Authority, following the nationalisation of the industry in 1948. It was initially planned for the site to comprise two stations; an A station and a B station. Each station was to have a capacity of 240 megawatts (MW), a total capacity of 480 MW over the site, but only the A station was built.

Construction, design and specification

Because the station's site was surrounded by water on two sides, its strata were variable and so all of the buildings' foundations were piled. Approximately 7,850 piles were made, all of reinforced concrete construction, with an average length of 30 feet (9.1 m) and with a load of 50 tonnes per pile. The station's main buildings consisted of a turbine hall, boiler house and a pair of chimneys. Other structures included workshops, storage areas, a canteen and office block buildings. The approximate dimensions of the main buildings measured 480 feet (150 m) by 275 feet (84 m). 10,300 tonnes of steel was used in the main buildings' steel frame, erection of which began in November 1949, and the construction of the superstructure beginning in December 1950. The steel frame was clad with brick, while copings and cills were made from artificial stone. The station had granolithic flooring, but the turbine hall and boiler room floors were tiled. The roofs were made from reinforced concrete with glass glazing. Two elevators were provided, to give access to all floors. The station's two chimneys were each 350 feet (110 m) high and of brick construction. Ten million bricks were used in the construction of the station.

Commissioning of the station's first generating set took place in 1953. All of the station's generating sets were commissioned by 1956. The station was officially opened by Sir William Walker on 20 July 1956. By then, the British Electricity Authority had become the Central Electricity Authority. This in turn became the Central Electricity Generating Board in 1957.

The station generated electricity using four 60 megawatt (MW) Metropolitan-Vickers turbo-alternators, giving the station a total generating capacity of 240 MW. Steam for the generators was provided by seven boilers. Boilers no. 1 to 4 were produced by Babcock & Wilcox, and boilers no. 5 to 7 by John Brown Land Boilers. The latter were the first made by this company to be commissioned by the Central Electricity Authority.

Later history

Initially the station operated at base load, and maintained a good load factor into the middle of its life. Between 1984 and 1985 the station broke its own output records. In the final years of its operating life it retained a high availability, to meet the peaks of winter evening electricity demands. After the United Kingdom's electric supply industry was privatised in 1990, the station was operated by PowerGen. It continued generating electricity until it was closed in 1991, and was demolished several years later.

Future use of site

A gas-fired Combined Cycle Gas Turbine power station is to be built on the station's site. Bridestone Developments have planned a £500 million station, capable of generating 880MW of electricity, enough power to supply half a million homes. Irish utility company ESBI purchased an 85% stake in the project from Carlton Power in September 2008. It is expected that the station will be able to have Carbon Capture and Storage facilities, when the technology is viable. The station will also be a combined heat and power plant, capable of providing nearby businesses with steam if they require a supply. Bridestone were granted planning permission to build the station by the Department of Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform in July 2008. This meant the plans were not subject to approval from Trafford Council. Its construction is expected to begin in late 2009 or early 2010. It will provide 600 construction jobs, with construction expected to take two years. Fifty permanent jobs will be provided upon the completion of the station in 2013. There had previously been plans to build a smaller power station on the site, but these have since been replaced by the current plans. The project was officially launched on 23 January 2009.

External links

• Carrington Power - Official website of new CCGT power station.
• Carrington Power Station handbook (old station)