Blackwall Point Power Station
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2014}}
{{Use British English|date=March 2014}}
{{Infobox power station
| name = Blackwall Point Power Station
| image = Blackwall Point power station.jpg
| image_caption = Blackwall Point Power Station from Greenwich Park, 1973
| coordinates = {{coord|51.497800|0.011500|region:GB_type:landmark|display=inline,title}}
| country = England
| location = Greenwich, London
| status = Decommissioned and demolished
| owner = Blackheath and Greenwich Electric Light Co. subsequently the South Metropolitan Electric Light and Power Co., then the County of London Electric Lighting Co.
British Electricity Authority
(1948–1955)
Central Electricity Authority
(1955–1957)
Central Electricity Generating Board
(1958–1984)
| operator = Operated by owner
| employees =
| th_fuel_primary = Coal
| ps_site_area = 3.5 acres
| ps_chimneys = One
| ps_cooling_towers = None
| ps_cooling_source = River water
| ps_units_operational = 3 × 30 MW (1951 station)
| ps_units_manu_model = English Electric Company
| ps_units_decommissioned = All
| ps_electrical_capacity = 100.5 MWElectrical Review,1 June 1962
| ps_electrical_cap_fac =
| ps_annual_generation = see graph in text
| th_fuel_tertiary =
| construction_began = 1900 & 1947
| commissioned = 1900 & 1951
| decommissioned = 1947 & 1984
| cost =
| extra = {{gbmapping|TQ3961079623}}
}}
Blackwall Point Power Station was a coal-fired power station on the east side of the Greenwich Peninsula, in London. An early station from the 1890s was replaced in 1951 by a new station, which itself ceased operation in 1984. The station was constructed on a three-acre site at the north-west end of River Way to the south-east of the South Metropolitan Gasworks, since redeveloped as East Parkside.
History
The first Blackwall Point power station was built on the site of the East Greenwich tide mill by the Blackheath and Greenwich Electric Light Co. and began to supply the area in 1900 with plant totalling 750kW. By the time it closed in 1947 it had a capacity of 15 MW.Mary Mills, Greenwich Marsh - The 300 years before the Dome, London: M.Wright, 1999, {{ISBN|0-9535245-0-7}}
File:Blackwall Point Power Station 2.jpg
The replacement station was planned by the South Metropolitan Electric Light and Power Co. from 1947.{{Cite book|title=The Power Stations of the Lower Thames|last=Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England|publisher=National Monuments Record Centre|year=1995|location=Swindon}} Following nationalisation of the electricity industry in 1948, planning and construction was taken over by the British Electricity Authority (BEA) which opened the station in 1952 on a small 3.5-acre site. It was the first London power station designed to be fired exclusively by pulverised coal. Coal from overhead bunkers was ground to a powder by pressurised mills and transported to the furnace by air fans.Frederick Gair, Blackwall Point Power Station, Greenwich Industrial History Society Newsletter, Vol 7 Issue 1, January 2004 [http://gihs.gold.ac.uk/gihs35.html#blackwall] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040512004802/http://gihs.gold.ac.uk/gihs35.html#blackwall|date=12 May 2004}} Coal was delivered to the station via a coaling pier on the river. The building was a steel framed structure with brick and glass cladding. The box-like boiler house was to the north of the low engine room, the switch house was to the left. There was a single reinforced concrete chimney.
The station was equipped with three nominal 30 MW turbo alternators generating at 11 kV and supplied by the English Electric Company, giving the station a generating capacity of 90 MW. Steam was supplied by three coal-fired Babcock & Wilcox boilers, with condenser cooling water taken from the river.Keith Doyle, Blackwall Point Power Station, Greenwich Industrial History Society Newsletter, Vol 2 Issue 4, August 1999, [http://gihs.gold.ac.uk/gihs9.html#blackwall] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090226082500/http://gihs.gold.ac.uk/gihs9.html#blackwall|date=26 February 2009}} The maximum steam capacity of the boilers was 1,095,000 lb/hr (138 kg/s). Steam pressure and temperature at the turbine stop valves was 600 psi (41.4 bar) and 454 °C.CEGB Statistical Yearbooks (various years) CEGB, London. In 1954 the station used 167,000 tons of coal.{{Cite journal|date=24 June 1955|title=Schedule of power stations as at 31 December 1954|journal=Electrical Review|volume=24 June 1955|pages=1123}}
The first turbo-alternator set was commissioned in the summer of 1951, subsequent sets coming into use by the spring of 1952.
Blackwall Point was originally in the London Division of the BEA, which subsequently became the Central Electricity Authority (1955–57) and from 1958 the Central Electricity Generating Board.
=Electricity output=
Electricity output from Blackwell Point power station over the period 1961–1981 was as follows.{{Cite journal|title=British Power Stations operating at 31 December 1961|journal=Electrical Review|volume=1 June 1962|pages=931}}Garcke’s Manual of Electricity Supply vol. 57, 1960, p. A-109.GEGB Annual report and accounts, various yearsElectricity Commission, Generation of Electricity in Great Britain year ended 31st December 1946. London: HMSO, 1947.
Blackwell Point annual electricity output GWh.
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{
"x": 1966,
"y": 1126
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{
"x": 1967,
"y": 1139
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{
"x": 1968,
"y": 1239
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{
"x": 1969,
"y": 1307
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{
"x": 1970,
"y": 961
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{
"x": 1971,
"y": 1321
},
{
"x": 1972,
"y": 1701
},
{
"x": 1973,
"y": 1448
},
{
"x": 1974,
"y": 1264
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{
"x": 1975,
"y": 1069
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{
"x": 1976,
"y": 382
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{
"x": 1977,
"y": 361
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{
"x": 1978,
"y": 506
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{
"x": 1979,
"y": 494
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{
"x": 1980,
"y": 408
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{
"x": 1981,
"y": 343
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{
"x": 1982,
"y": 209
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{
"x": 1983,
"y": 172
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{
"x": 1984,
"y": 14
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{
"x": 1985,
"y": 0
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{
"x": 1961,
"y": 364
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{
"x": 1955,
"y": 326
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{
"x": 1956,
"y": 363
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{
"x": 1957,
"y": 339
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{
"x": 1958,
"y": 336
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{
"x": 1959,
"y": 345
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"x": 1954,
"y": 306
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"y": 15
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=Decommissioning=
The station closed on 26 October 1981 with a capacity of 86 MW.{{cite web
|author = Mr. Redmond
|title = Coal-fired Power Stations
|url = https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/written-answers/1984/jan/16/coal-fired-power-stations#S6CV0052P0_19840116_CWA_281
|work = Parliamentary Debates (Hansard)
|date = 16 January 1984
|access-date = 1 September 2009
}} The power station was demolished and the site cleared in 1987. Today the only visible remains of the station is the coaling pier in the Thames.
References
{{reflist}}
{{Portal|London|Energy}}
{{Commons category|Blackwall Point Power Station}}
{{London Powerstations}}
Category:Coal-fired power stations in England
Category:Former buildings and structures in the Royal Borough of Greenwich
Category:Former power stations in London
Category:Former power stations in England
Category:Demolished power stations in the United Kingdom
Category:Power stations on the River Thames
Category:Former coal-fired power stations in the United Kingdom