| Salisbury power station | |
| Country: | England |
| Location: | Salisbury |
| Status: | Decommissioned |
| Construction Began: | 1896 |
| Commissioned: | 1898 |
| Decommissioned: | 1970 |
| Owner: | Salisbury Electric Light and Supply Company Limited (1894–1948) British Electricity Authority (1948–1955) Central Electricity Authority (1955–1957) Central Electricity Generating Board (1958–1970) |
| Operator: | As owner |
| Th Fuel Primary: | Coal |
| Th Fuel Secondary: | Water |
| Th Technology: | Steam turbines |
| Ps Cooling Source: | River water |
| Ps Units Operational: | 1 x 0.75 MW, 1 x 0.55 MW, 1 x 1.6 MW |
| Ps Units Manu Model: | English Electric and Brush |
| Ps Electrical Capacity: | 2.9 MW |
| Ps Annual Generation: | 6,061 MWh (1946) |
Salisbury power station supplied electricity to the English city of Salisbury and the surrounding area from 1898 to c. 1970. It was owned and operated by Salisbury Electric Light and Supply Company Limited prior to the nationalisation of the British electricity supply industry in 1948. The power station was redeveloped several times to incorporate new plant to replace retired equipment. The facilities included a water driven turbine.
In 1895 Salisbury Electric Light and Supply Company Limited (registered on 20 June 1894) applied for a Provisional Order under the Electric Lighting Acts to generate and supply electricity to the city.[1] This was granted by the Board of Trade and was confirmed by Parliament through the Electric Lighting Orders Confirmation (No. 5) Act 1895 (58 & 59 Vict. c. cii).[2]
The power station was built at Town Mill, a former 18th-century water mill on the River Avon, just upstream of Fisherton Bridge in the city centre (51°04'09"N 1°47'52"W).[3] [4] It first supplied electricity on 22 June 1898.
The original plant at the power station comprised a 60 horse-power (45 kW) Gilkes water turbine running at 28 rpm and powered by the River Avon. The turbine was connected via belts to Parker dynamos. The capacity of the plant was 120 kW and there were 1,000 lamps connected to the system. In 1898 a new coal-fired steam plant was being built, equipped with Belliss engines and Parker dynamos.
By 1923 the generating plant comprised:[5]
The station also had a 30 kW water turbine. These machines gave a total generating capacity of 800 kW of direct current (DC).
The supply to consumers was at 420 and 210 volts DC.
The plant in 1955 comprised:[6]
The total installed generating capacity was 2.9 MW, with an output capacity of 3MW.
Condenser cooling water was drawn from the River Avon.
There was a trend for electricity consumption to increase during the course of the First World War (1914–1919). It was noted the Salisbury (and Taunton) municipal electricity undertakings suffered a fall in electricity sales in this period, associated with the lack of industry in these areas.[7]
The operating data for the period 1921–23 is shown in the table:
| Units | Year | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1921 | 1922 | 1923 | |||
| Lighting and domestic use | MWh | 414 | 437 | 495 | |
| Public lighting use | MWh | 0.6 | 0.6 | 2.4 | |
| Traction | MWh | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Power use | MWh | 239 | 247 | 244 | |
| Total use | MWh | 653 | 685 | 741 | |
| Load and connected load | |||||
| Maximum load | kW | 467 | 520 | 552 | |
| Total connections | kW | 2162 | 2287 | 2375 | |
| Load factor | Per cent | 19.6 | 18.6 | 18.9 | |
| Financial | |||||
| Revenue from sales of current | £ | – | 17,036 | 18,151 | |
| Surplus of revenue over expenses | £ | – | 8,862 | 10,512 | |
Salisbury power station operating data for 1946 was:[10]
| 1946 | 41.7 | 3,710 | 6,061 | 13.75 |
Operating data for the period 1954–67 is shown in the table:[12] [13]
| 1954 | 1293 | 3 | 2708 | 9.85 | |
| 1955 | 770 | 3 | 1698 | 9.57 | |
| 1956 | 1053 | 3 | 2247 | 9.91 | |
| 1957 | 348 | 3 | 772 | 8.12 | |
| 1958 | 142 | 3 | 278 | 7.52 | |
| 1961 | (1.2 %) | 3 | 321 | 5.71 | |
| 1962 | (0.9 %) | 3 | 224 | 6.20 | |
| 1963 | (3.62 %) | 3 | 952 | 8.22 | |
| 1967 | (4.0 %) | 3 | 984 | 10.7 |
Salisbury power station was decommissioned in about 1970.[14] The building was Grade II listed under the name Salisbury Generating Station in 1952. In 1979 the site was owned by Salisbury City Council who wished to replace the station and surrounding buildings with a hotel, but this did not come to fruition.[15]