| Greenhill power station | |
| Country: | England |
| Location: | Oldham |
| Status: | Decommissioned and demolished |
| Commissioned: | 1921 |
| Decommissioned: | 1960 |
| Owner: | Oldham Corporation (1894–1948) British Electricity Authority (1948–1955) Central Electricity Authority (1955–1957) Central Electricity Generating Board (1958–1960) |
| Operator: | As owner |
| Th Fuel Primary: | Coal |
| Th Technology: | Steam turbines |
| Ps Cooling Towers: | 5 |
| Ps Cooling Source: | Circulating cooling water |
| Ps Units Operational: | 2 x 6.6 MW, 1 x 4 MW |
| Ps Units Manu Model: | Metropolitan-Vickers |
| Ps Electrical Capacity: | 17.2 MW |
| Ps Annual Generation: | 23.12 GWh (1946) |
Greenhill power station supplied electricity to the town of Oldham, England and the surrounding area from 1921 to 1960. It replaced the older Rhodes Bank generating station and was superseded by Chadderton B power station. Greenhill power station was owned and operated by Oldham Corporation until the nationalisation of the British electricity supply industry in 1948. The power station was built over the period 1921–24 and was decommissioned in 1960.
In 1890 Oldham Corporation applied for a Provisional Order under the Electric Lighting Acts to generate and supply electricity to the town. This was granted by the Board of Trade and was confirmed by Parliament through the Electric Lighting Orders Confirmation (No. 3) Act 1890 (54 & 55 Vict. c. clxxxviii).[1] The power station was built in Gas Street at Rhodes Bank (53°32'24"N 2°06'22"W)[2] and first supplied electricity on 20 March 1894.[3]
Following the First World War the demand for electricity was outpacing the available supply. Oldham Corporation built Greenhill power station adjacent to the railway in Churchill Street East (53°32'21"N 2°06'12"W). Greenhill station was first commissioned in 1921 with further generating sets commissioned in 1923 and 1924. In addition Oldham Corporation built another electricity generating station at Slacks Valley known as Chadderton power station which was first commissioned in November 1929.
The original plant at Rhodes Bank power station comprised Willans engines and Charlesworth Hall and Siemens dynamos. To maintain supplies at times of peak demand Crompton-Howell and EPS accumulators were provided. Electricity supplies commenced on 20 March 1894. In 1898 the generating capacity was 657 kW and the maximum load was 413 kW. By 1898 9330yd of electricity mains had been laid.
In 1923 the generating plant at Greenhill power station comprised:[4]
These machines gave a total output of 20,000 kW of alternating current.
A variety of electricity supplies were available to consumers:
In 1954 the plant at Greenhill power station comprised:[5]
The boilers had a total evaporative capacity of 145,000 lb/h (18.3 kg/s), steam conditions were 200 psi and 650 °F (13.8 bar, 343 °C), which was supplied to:
The installed capacity was 17.2 MW with an output capacity of 10 MW.
There were also:
Condenser cooling water was cooled in five Premier chimney type cooling towers with a capacity of 1.36 million gallons per hour (1.7 m3/s).
In 1898 and there were 213 customers supplied with a total of 305,859 kWh of electricity plus 16,444 kWh for public lighting. The sale of electricity provided revenue of £5,862 for Oldham Corporation against a generating cost of £1,486.
The operating data for the period 1921–23 was:
| Units | Year | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1921 | 1922 | 1923 | |||
| Lighting and domestic | MWh | 2,879 | 3,162 | 3,823 | |
| Public lighting | MWh | 83 | 90 | 166 | |
| Traction | MWh | 4,225 | 4,669 | 4,943 | |
| Power | MWh | 11,153 | 14,325 | 20,901 | |
| Total use | MWh | 18,340 | 22,246 | 29,832 | |
| Load and connected load | |||||
| Maximum load | kW | 10,996 | 14,187 | 16,260 | |
| Total connections | kW | 16,555 | 19,985 | 21,387 | |
| Load factor | Per cent | 24.3 | 22.0 | 25.7 | |
| Financial | |||||
| Revenue from sales of current | £ | – | 166,875 | 29,833 | |
| Surplus of revenue over expenses | £ | – | 52,271 | 94,597 | |
Greenhill power station operating data for 1946 is given below, data for Chadderton power station is shown for comparison:[9]
| Greenhill | 27.8 | 21,040 | 23.119 | 12.02 | |
| Chadderton | 32.0 | 39,959 | 97,910 | 17.14 |
The British electricity supply industry was nationalised in 1948 under the provisions of the Electricity Act 1947 (10 & 11 Geo. 6 c. 54).[10] The Oldham electricity undertaking was abolished, ownership of Greenhill power station was vested in the British Electricity Authority, and subsequently the Central Electricity Authority and the Central Electricity Generating Board (CEGB). At the same time the electricity distribution and sales responsibilities of the Oldham electricity undertaking were transferred to the North Western Electricity Board (NORWEB).
Operating data for the period 1954–58 was:
| 1954 | 2729 | 15 | 21.818 | 11.19 | |
| 1955 | 2594 | 15 | 18.566 | 11.13 | |
| 1956 | 1977 | 15 | 15.874 | 11.528 | |
| 1957 | 2533 | 10 | 16.424 | 11.074 | |
| 1958 | 2295 | 10 | 12.327 | 10.809 |
The Oldham electricity supply district, covered an area of 29mi2 and included the County Borough of Oldham, the borough of Middleton, and the districts of Chadderton, Crompton, Lees, and Royton. It served a population of 215,800 (1958). The number of consumers and electricity sold was:
| Year | 1956 | 1957 | 1958 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number of consumers | 80,348 | 82,001 | 83,476 | |
| Electricity sold MWh | 287,017 | 313,355 | 340,341 |
| Type of consumer | No. of consumers | Electricity sold MWh | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Residential | 74,909 | 92,706 | |
| Shops, offices, etc. | 4,139 | 23,306 | |
| Combined premises | 3,086 | 10,407 | |
| Factories | 1,116 | 209,539 | |
| Farms | 220 | 1,109 | |
| Public lighting | 6 | 3,274 | |
| Total | 83,476 | 340,341 |
Greenhill power station was decommissioned in 1960.[11] The buildings were subsequently demolished although a working substation remains on the site.