Darlington Power Station

For the nuclear power plant in Canada, see Darlington Nuclear Generating Station.

Darlington Power Station
File:Darlington Bank Top station geograph-2259696-by-Ben-Brooksbank.jpg Darlington railway station with the power station in the background
Location of Darlington Power Station in County Durham
Official name	Darlington power station
Country	England
Location	County Durham, North East England
Coordinates
Commission date	1900
Decommission date	1976
Operator(s)	Central Electricity Generating Board
Thermal power station
Primary fuel	Coal-fired
grid reference NZ295149

Darlington power station refers to a series of two coal-fired power stations situated in Darlington in County Durham, North East England.

History

The first station was opened on the town's Haughton Road in 1900. It was positioned alongside the East Coast Main Line for the easy delivery of coal. The station needed replacing in the 1930s, and so a new station was built on the site. The station's construction cost £324,000, but was marred by numerous accidents and deaths. The new station opened in May 1940. It had three large hyperboloid reinforced concrete cooling towers and three brick built chimneys. The station had a generating capacity of 57 megawatts (MW). The Central Electricity Generating Board gave 12 months notification of the station's closure in October 1975. The station closed the following year, on 25 October 1976. The cooling towers were demolished on 28 January 1979, and the chimneys were demolished in 1982.