| Wolverhampton power station | |
| Country: | England |
| Location: | Wolverhampton |
| Status: | Decommissioned |
| Construction Began: | 1894 |
| Commissioned: | 1895 |
| Decommissioned: | 1976 |
| Cost: | £32,000 |
| Owner: | Wolverhampton Corporation (1894–1928) West Midlands Joint Electricity Authority (1928–1948) British Electricity Authority (1948–1955) Central Electricity Authority (1955–1957) Central Electricity Generating Board (1958–1976) |
| Operator: | As owner |
| Th Fuel Primary: | Coal |
| Th Technology: | Steam turbines |
| Ps Chimneys: | 1 brick 115 feet (35 m); 1 steel 175 feet (53 m) |
| Ps Cooling Towers: | 1 concrete |
| Ps Cooling Source: | Circulating water |
| Ps Units Operational: | 1 × 30 MW (from 1942) |
| Ps Units Manu Model: | Brush-Ljungstrom |
| Ps Electrical Capacity: | 30 MW |
| Ps Annual Generation: | 125.271 GWh (1946) |
Wolverhampton power station, also known as Commercial Road power station, supplied electricity to the Borough of Wolverhampton, England and the surrounding area from 1895 to 1976. It was redeveloped in several stages to meet growing demand for electricity: including the addition of new plant in 1902 to 1908, 1925 and 1942. The power station was initially owned and operated by Wolverhampton Corporation, but was transferred to the West Midlands Joint Electricity Authority in 1928. The British Electricity Authority assumed ownership at nationalisation in 1948. Wolverhampton power station was decommissioned in 1976.
In 1883 Wolverhampton Corporation applied for a provisional order[1] under the Electric Lighting Acts to generate and supply electricity to the town. This was granted by the Board of Trade, however, no construction work was undertaken and a further provisional order was obtained in 1890.[2] The power station was built in Commercial Road (52°34'54"N 2°06'54"W) and was adjacent to the Wolverhampton Level canal for the delivery of coal. It first supplied electricity on 30 January 1895.[3]
The original 1895 plant at Wolverhampton power station comprised Marshall's horizontal compound engines coupled by ropes to Electric Construction Company and Parker dynamos, together with a Belliss engine coupled directly to a Parker dynamo. In 1898 the generating capacity was 632 kW and the maximum load on the system was 318 kW.[4]
New plant was installed from 1902, partly to supply the local tramway system. By 1908 the capacity was 6 MW there were two Babcock & Wilcox 20,000 lb/h (2.52 kg/s) boilers, two 1 MW turbo-alternators.[5] By 1913 there was 3 MW of direct current generating plant and 4 MW of alternating current generation.
In 1904 a refuse destructor was built in Crown Street, this generated steam to drive two 125 kW generators. Further plant was added to the destructor plant bringing the generating capacity up to 750 kW (1913) and 1 MW (1921). This comprised one 500 kW AC turbine and one 500 kW DC turbine.[6]
By 1923 the generating plant comprised:
These machines gave a total generating capacity of 22 MW of alternating current.
In addition the adjacent refuse destructor plant had a 500 kW turbine generating direct current.
Electricity was supplied to consumers at:
In 1925 the DC generators were scrapped and two 7.5 MW turbo-alternators were commissioned. This brought the capacity of the station to 23 MW.
New plant was commissioned in 1942, comprising:[7]
Operational data for the station was as follows.
In 1898 maximum electricity demand was 318 kW. There were 208 customers supplied with a total of 211,777 kWh of electricity plus 79,438 kWh for public lamps. The revenue from the sales of current was £6,139 offset by generating costs of £2,211.
The operating data for the period 1921–23 was:
| Units | Year | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1921 | 1922 | 1923 | |||
| Lighting and domestic | MWh | 2,478 | 2,832 | 3,071 | |
| Public lighting | MWh | 244 | 239 | 275 | |
| Traction | MWh | 2,366 | 2,164 | 2,437 | |
| Power | MWh | 16,240 | 10,522 | 14,088 | |
| Bulk supply | MWh | 231 | 452 | 7,068 | |
| Total use | MWh | 21,599 | 16,209 | 26,940 | |
| Load and connected load | |||||
| Maximum load | kW | 10,125 | 9,361 | 11,735 | |
| Total connections | kW | 23,130 | 24,255 | 29,365 | |
| Load factor | Per cent | 31.5 | 28.0 | 32.1 | |
| Financial | |||||
| Revenue from sales of current | £ | – | 156,349 | 169,852 | |
| Surplus of revenue over expenses | £ | – | 63,573 | 79,523 | |
The station capacity and output in the mid-1930s was:[8]
| Plant capacity MW | 30.0 | 30.0 | |
| Maximum load MW | 22.0 | 30.2 | |
| Maximum demand load factor % | 22.3 | 13.0 | |
| Electricity generated MWh | 42,999 | 34,568 | |
| Electricity sold MWh | 39,578 | 31,857 | |
| Supply to Wolverhampton Corporation MWh | 130,501 | 149,325 |
Wolverhampton power station operating data in 1946 was:[9]
| 1946 | 32.2 | 44,400 | 125,271 | 19.26 |
Operating data for the period 1954–72 was:[12] [13]
| 1954 | 3581 | 28 | 84.628 | 21.00 | |
| 1955 | 5033 | 28 | 122.040 | 20.25 | |
| 1956 | 4473 | 28 | 104.673 | 19.47 | |
| 1957 | 4077 | 28 | 90.982 | 19.62 | |
| 1958 | 2983 | 28 | 71.355 | 20.17 | |
| 1961 | (25.0 %) | 28 | 61.305 | 20.20 | |
| 1962 | (10.7 %) | 28 | 26.325 | 20.14 | |
| 1963 | (1.74 %) | 28 | 4.274 | 18.34 | |
| 1967 | (22.6%) | 28 | 55.32 | 18.54 | |
| 1972 | (24.1 %) | 28 | 59.296 | 20.2 |
| Year | 1956 | 1957 | 1958 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number of consumers | 62,943 | 64,354 | 65,353 | |
| Electricity sold MWh | 475,606 | 492,667 | 523,067 |
Wolverhampton power station was decommissioned on 25 October 1976.[14] The main buildings have been adapted to commercial use.