:Aberthaw power stations

The site of the stations was a golf course before the construction of the first station.{{cite web|url=http://www.barrywales.co.uk/showimage.asp?ID=183|title=View Image : Barry, Wales|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061015040323/http://www.barrywales.co.uk/showimage.asp?ID=183 |archive-date=15 October 2006 }} Aberthaw was constructed by the Central Electricity Generating Board (CEGB) under the chairmanship of Christopher Hinton. It is known as one of the original Hinton Heavies, a series of new 500 MW units procured at the time.{{cite web |last1=Clarke |first1=Jonathan |title='High Merit': existing English post-war coal and oil-fired power stations in context |url=https://research.historicengland.org.uk/redirect.aspx?id=7065%7CHigh%20Merit%27:%20Existing%20English%20Post-War%20Coal%20and%20Oil-Fired%20Power%20Stations%20in%20Context |website=Historic England |access-date=12 August 2019 |pages=8 |date=2013}} Aberthaw "A" Power Station, although recorded as first generating power on 7 February 1960, officially opened on 29 October 1963, and at the time it was the most advanced in the world.{{cite web |url=http://www.railfuture.org.uk/tiki-download_file.php?fileId=39 |title=Archived copy |access-date=2006-08-27 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071020215002/http://www.railfuture.org.uk/tiki-download_file.php?fileId=39 |archive-date=2007-10-20 }} Aberthaw "B" station opened in 1971. Aberthaw "A" operated until 1995.{{cite web|url=http://www.nationalgrid.com/UK/library/documents/sys_03/dddownloaddisplay.asp?sp=sys_Table3_7|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030508220159/http://www.nationalgrid.com/uk/library/documents/sys_03/dddownloaddisplay.asp?sp=sys_Table3_7|url-status=dead|archive-date=8 May 2003|title=Generation disconnections since 1991|access-date=5 October 2009|year=2003|work=National Grid}} It was subsequently demolished. Its two {{convert|425|ft}} chimneys were the last section to be demolished, and this was done on Saturday, 25 July 1998.{{cite web

|url=http://www.llancarfansociety.org.uk/newsletter/314aa/pdf/nl83.pdf|title=LLANCARFAN SOCIETY NEWSLETTER 83|access-date=2008-12-14|year=1998|work=llancarfansociety.org.uk/|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111004224401/http://www.llancarfansociety.org.uk/newsletter/314aa/pdf/nl83.pdf|archive-date=2011-10-04}}

The site had three generating units, each driven by its own Foster-Wheeler boiler. In 2006{{ndash}}2007 new steam turbines were fitted, allowing each unit to generate an extra 28–30 MW of power. Each unit was rated at 520 MW.

File:Coal trains passing in Roath - geograph.org.uk - 4140471.jpg and Aberthaw (2014)]]

Aberthaw burned approximately 5,000{{ndash}}6,000 tonnes of fuel a day. The site usually burned two-thirds Welsh coal with the remainder being either foreign low-sulphur coal or biomass.

The station took its entire coal feed stock in by rail from the Vale of Glamorgan Line, under contract to DBS. Rail facilities included east- and west-facing connections to the main line, three reception sidings, No. 8 and No. 9 merry-go-round loop lines, two gross-weight and tare-weight weighbridges, two hopper wagon discharge hoppers, a former fly ash siding, an oil discharge siding, two sidings adjacent to the former A station, and two exchange sidings.{{Cite book|title=Railway Track Diagrams – Great Western|last=Jacobs|first=Gerald|publisher=Quail|year=2000|isbn=1898319391|location=Exeter|pages=30A}}{{Cite book|title=Railway Track Diagrams Book 3: Western & Wales|last=Munsey|first=Myles|publisher=Trackmaps|year=2018|isbn=9781999627102|location=Frome|pages=28A}}

The A station had six 100 MW turbo-alternators giving a gross output of 600 MW. The boilers operated on pulverised coal and delivered 570 kg/s of steam at 103.4 bar and 524 °C. Station cooling was by sea water. In 1980/1 the station sent out 1,718.786 GWh, and the thermal efficiency was 30.23 per cent.{{Cite book|last=CEGB|title=CEGB Statistical Yearbook (1964–81)|publisher=CEGB|year=1981|location=London|pages=7, 20}} Aberthaw A was one of the CEGB's 20 steam power stations with the highest thermal efficiency; the thermal efficiency was 34.08 per cent in 1963–4, 34.67 per cent in 1964–5, and 34.27 per cent in 1965–6.

The output from the A station was as follows:{{cite book|publisher=CEGB|title=Annual report and accounts, 1961, 1962 & 1963}}

The B station had 2 × 462 MW and 1 × 475 MW turbo-alternators giving a gross output of 1,399 MW. The boilers operated on pulverised coal and delivered 1,170 kg/s of steam at 158.6 bar and 566 °C. Station cooling was by sea water. In 1978/9 the station sent out 4,083.124 GWh, and in 1980/1 it sent out 5,620.143 GWh.

There was a gas-turbine generating facility at Aberthaw, commissioned in February 1967.{{Cite book|title=Handbook of Electricity Supply Statistics 1989|publisher=The Electricity Council|year=1990|isbn=085188122X|location=London|pages=8}} There were three 17.5 MW gas turbines with a total rating of 52.5 MW, and they delivered 0.392 GWh in the year 1980/1.

Until its closure, the Tower Colliery in Hirwaun supplied much of the coal for Aberthaw. Until 2017 coal came from the Ffos-y-fran Land Reclamation Scheme in Merthyr Tydfil. Other sources included: the Aberpergwm drift and opencast mines in the Neath Valley; the Cwmgwrach Colliery via the Onllwyn Washery; and the Tower Opencast mine based at the site of the original Tower Colliery. Further stocks were sourced from abroad, primarily Russia, and shipped in via the ports of Portbury, Avonmouth and Newport Docks.{{citation needed|date=March 2024}}

In response to the UK government's renewable energy obligation that came into effect in April 2002, the station began firing a range of biomass materials to replace some of the coal burned. This was due to Welsh coal being less volatile than other coal and as such producing more sulphur dioxide and carbon monoxide.{{clarify|reason=what is the full logical link between the renewable energy obligation and volatility of Welsh coal?|date=March 2024}}

Aberthaw B was due for closure, but in June 2005 station owners Npower agreed to reduce sulphur dioxide emissions by installing flue-gas desulfurization (FGD) equipment. This was to reduce sulphur dioxide levels by 90% by 2008, when new European environmental regulations came into effect.{{cite web |url=http://www.mpga.co.uk/industrail_civil2.htm |title=Aberthaw Power Station|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060923003536/http://www.mpga.co.uk/industrail_civil2.htm |archive-date=2006-09-23}} Construction of the equipment started on 21 June 2006, with a tree planting ceremony attended by the Welsh Minister for Enterprise, Innovation and Networks, Andrew Davies. The desulphurisation FGD project was being carried out by a consortium of Alstom and Amec Foster Wheeler, which was to have employed 500 workers on site at the peak of construction.{{cite web |url=http://www.npowermediacentre.co.uk/Content/Detail.asp?ReleaseID=721&NewsAreaID=2 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110809095429/http://www.npowermediacentre.com/content/detail.aspx?releaseid=721&newsareaid=2 |title=RWE npower begins construction of £100m environmental technology at Aberthaw Power Station |date=21 June 2006 |website=Npower Media Centre |archive-date=9 August 2011}}

In 2006, it was reported that consultants for the Department of Trade and Industry had identified the site as a suitable location for a nuclear power station, based on the existing infrastructure and logistics. However, the department commented: "We are conducting an energy review. The review is to see whether there should be a nuclear element to Britain's energy plan, and it would be a bit odd to identify sites for nuclear power stations at this time."{{cite web|last1=Shipton|first1=Martin|title=Aberthaw 'earmarked as nuclear station site' |url=https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/aberthaw-earmarked-nuclear-station-site-2353663|website=Wales Online|access-date=14 July 2018|date=14 February 2006}}

On 26 March 2015, the BBC reported that the UK government was being taken to court by the European Commission over excess emissions of nitrogen oxides from Aberthaw power station.{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-south-east-wales-32077196|title=UK government taken to court over Aberthaw Power Station emissions|date=26 March 2015|publisher=BBC News|access-date=11 November 2015}} This issue was raised in the National Assembly for Wales on 10 November 2015 by Bethan Jenkins AM.{{cite web|url=http://www.senedd.assembly.wales/documents/s45783/oaq-10-11-15.pdf|title=Oral Assembly Questions tabled on 5 November 2015 for answer on 10 November 2015|date=10 November 2015|publisher=National Assembly for Wales|access-date=11 November 2015}}

The station's closure was first announced on 1 August 2019. The station officially closed on 31 March 2020, the same date of closure as Fiddlers Ferry Power Station in Widnes, Cheshire.

The site of Aberthaw Power Station has been suggested as a site for tidal energy generation with the Cardiff Capital Region confirming its intention to buy the site.{{Cite web|title=EXCLUSIVE: Council supergroup confirm intention to buy defunct power station|url=https://www.thenational.wales/environment/19892556.cardiff-capital-region-intend-buy-aberthaw-power-station/|access-date=2022-02-05|website=The National (Wales)|language=en|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220203171656/https://www.thenational.wales/environment/19892556.cardiff-capital-region-intend-buy-aberthaw-power-station/|archive-date=3 February 2022|date=2 February 2022|first=Siriol|last=Griffiths}}{{Cite web|title=Aberthaw Power Station could be bought by councils for tidal energy plan|url=https://www.thenational.wales/environment/19861171.cardiff-capital-region-buy-aberthaw-power-station-site/|access-date=2022-02-03|website=The National Wales|language=en|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220121005145/https://www.thenational.wales/environment/19861171.cardiff-capital-region-buy-aberthaw-power-station-site/|archive-date=21 January 2022|date=20 January 2022|first=Siriol|last=Griffiths}} It was confirmed on 3 March 2022 that the Capital Region had bought the site from RWE for £8 million.{{Cite web |title=More than £28 million to be spent redeveloping Aberthaw Power Station |url=https://www.thenational.wales/environment/19964766.aberthaw-power-station-sale-cardiff-capital-region-finalises-purchase/ |access-date=2022-03-03 |website=The National Wales |language=en|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220303001635/https://www.thenational.wales/environment/19964766.aberthaw-power-station-sale-cardiff-capital-region-finalises-purchase/|archive-date=3 March 2022|date=3 March 2022|first=Siriol|last=Griffiths}}{{Cite news |title=EXCLUSIVE: Aberthaw Power Station bought for estimated £8 million by council group |url=https://www.thenational.wales/environment/19960027.aberthaw-power-station-cardiff-capital-region-buy-site-8-million/ |access-date=2022-03-03 |work=The National Wales|first=Siriol|last=Griffiths|date=1 March 2022 |language=en|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220301180103/https://www.thenational.wales/environment/19960027.aberthaw-power-station-cardiff-capital-region-buy-site-8-million/|archive-date=1 March 2022}} The transfer, comprising the former power station and 500 acres of land, was finalised in March 2023. The Cardiff Capital Region announced it had earmarked £30 million to fund the work needed to demolish the station, and to begin redeveloping the site as a clean energy hub.{{cite news|url=https://www.business-live.co.uk/economic-development/plans-turn-former-aberthaw-power-26489491|title=Plans to turn former Aberthaw Power Station into a green energy hub|work=Business Live|date=16 March 2023|access-date=4 July 2023|first=Sion|last=Barry}}

{{Portal|Wales|Energy}}

• Aberthaw Cement Works
• Aberthaw lime works
• List of active coal fired power stations in the United Kingdom
• npower UK

{{Reflist}}

• {{commons category-inline}}
• {{cite web |title=Aberthaw Power Station |url=https://www.peoplescollection.wales/items/2800 |website=People's Collection Wales}} 1995 aerial photograph

{{St Athan, Vale of Glamorgan}}

{{Vale of Glamorgan}}

{{Energy in Wales}}

{{RWE}}

Category:Buildings and structures in the Vale of Glamorgan

Category:RWE

Category:Coal-fired power stations in Wales

Category:Demolished power stations in the United Kingdom

Category:Former coal-fired power stations in the United Kingdom

Category:Former power stations in Wales

Category:St Athan