Lancaster power stations

In 1890 Lancaster Corporation applied for, and the Board of Trade granted, a provisional order to generate and supply electricity to the town of Lancaster, Lancashire. This {{visible anchor|Lancaster Electric Lighting Order 1890}} was confirmed by Parliament in the Electric Lighting Orders (No. 2) Act 1890 (54 & 55 Vict. c. clxxxvii).{{Cite web|date=1890|title=Chronological Table of Local Acts 1890|url=https://www.legislation.gov.uk/changes/chron-tables/local/96|access-date=2 August 2020|website=legislation.gov.uk}} The corporation electricity undertaking constructed a power station with a generating capacity of 240 kW.{{Cite book|editor-last=Garcke|editor-first=Emile |title=Manual of Electrical Undertakings 1898-99 vol. 3|publisher=P. S. King and Son|year=1898|location=London|pages=229–31}} The generating equipment comprised steam driven Willans engines coupled directly to Brush direct current dynamos. The supply of electricity commenced on 14 April 1894. In the year ending March 1898 the station supplied a total of 147.175 MWh powering 12,256 lamps (each of 8 candle-power). The maximum load on the system was 190 kW. By 1901 supply had increased to 440 kW and a new station was erected alongside the original one containing a 1,000kW generator. This then allowed a supply of electricity to the Lancaster tram system commencing in 1903.{{Cite web|title=Lancaster Trams|url=http://www.tramwaybadgesandbuttons.com/page148/styled-79/page300/page300.html|access-date=2 August 2020|website=Tramway badges and buttons}}

In 1912 the cost of coal had increased significantly, Lancaster Corporation claimed it had increased by 25 per cent since 1911, the corporation investigated the possibility of using hydro-power from the River Lune to generate electricity.{{Cite news|date=25 September 1912|title=Lancashire Electricity Supply|page=19|work=The Times}} Chester Corporation had recently installed a hydro-electric station on the River Dee. In 1923 the plant at Chester comprised 1 × 185 kW and 2 × 225 kW hydro-electric machines.{{Cite book|last=Electricity Commissioners|title=Electricity Supply – 1920–23|publisher=HMSO|year=1925|location=London|pages=22–23}} Nothing became of the proposal for Lancaster.

At the outbreak of the First World War a National Projectile Factory was established off of Caton Road adjacent to the River Lune and the Lune Aqueduct.{{Cite web|last=Grace's Guide to British Industrial History|date=31 May 2017|title=National Projectile Factories|url=https://www.gracesguide.co.uk/National_Projectile_Factories|access-date=2 August 2020|website=Grace's Guide}} Construction started in September 1915 and the factory was operational from November 1916. The 33 acre (13.3 hectare) site included an electricity generating station at the east end ({{coord|54|04|02.6|N|2|47|19.0|W}}).{{Cite web|last=Britain from Above|date=1933|title=Lancaster Power Station and the Lune Aqueduct, Lancaster, 1933|url=https://www.britainfromabove.org.uk/en/image/EPW042029|access-date=2 August 2020|website=Britain from Above}}{{Cite web|date=1917|title=Plan of National Projectile Factory, Caton Road, Lancaster circa 1917.|url=http://www.kingsownmuseum.com/npfcatonrd.htm|access-date=2 August 2020|website=kings own museum}} Cooling water for the steam condensers was abstracted from the River Lune. The munitions factory closed down in 1922 and Lancaster Corporation purchased the power station to increase the electricity supplies to Lancaster.{{Cite web|last=Royal Academy of Engineering|date=May 2016|title=Living without electricity: one city's experience of coping with loss of power|url=https://www.raeng.org.uk/publications/reports/living-without-electricity|access-date=2 August 2020|website=Royal Academy of Engineering}}

By 1923 the steam plant at the station had a capacity of 26,000 lb/h (3.28 kg/s) and supplied steam to:{{Cite book|last=Electricity Commissioners|title=Electricity Supply – 1920–23|publisher=HMSO|year=1925|location=London|pages=54–57, 290–295}}

• 1 × 100 kW steam turbine driven generator
• 2 × 225 kW steam turbine driven generators
• 2 × 200 kW reciprocating engine driven generators
• 2 × 300 kW steam turbines driven generator

These provided a total generating capacity of 1,550 kW.

The station supplied only direct current (DC) at 460 and 230 Volts. In 1923 the maximum load on the system was 910 kW, and there was a connected load of 3,122 kW. The power was sold to the following users:

Traction current was supplied to the Lancaster tramway system.

The sale of electricity provided an income to the corporation of £21,747 in 1923. The surplus of revenue over expenses for generating electricity was £6,280.

The plant installed from the inauguration of the power station in 1916 until 1928 became known as the low pressure (LP) station and comprised:{{Cite book|editor-last=Garrett|editor-first=Frederick C. |title=Garcke's Manual of Electricity Supply vol. 56|publisher=Electrical Press|year=1959|location=London|pages=A-69, A-125, B-182}}

• Boilers
• 2 × Stirling 55,000 lb/h (6.93 kg/s) of steam, coal-fired boilers, supplying steam at 210 psi at 610 °F (14.5 bar at 321 °C)
• 4 × Stirling 15,000 lb/h (1.89 kg/s) coal-fired boilers, 210 psi at 610 °F (14.5 bar at 321 °C)
• These gave a total steam evaporative capacity of 170,000 lb/h (21.42 kg/s).
• Generating plant
• 1 × 5.0 MW Metropolitan-Vickers turbo-alternator operating at 6.66 kV
• 1 × 2.1 MW Metropolitan-Vickers turbo-alternator operating at 6.66 kV
• 1 × 1.1 MW Metropolitan-Vickers turbo-alternator operating at 6.66 kV
• 2 × 225 kW Greenwood & Batley turbo-generators operating at 460 V DC.

The power station had three railway sidings off the Settle Junction & Morecambe Line (London, Midland and Scottish Railway) for the supply of coal to the station.Ordnance Survey, 25 inch map Lancashire XXX.7 (Halton; Lancaster; Quernmore; Slyne With Hest), Revised: 1938, Published: 1939

Under the terms of the Electricity (Supply) Act 1926{{Cite web|date=1926|title=Electricity Act 1926|url=https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/Geo5/16-17/51/contents/enacted|access-date=2 August 2020|website=legislation.gov.uk}} (16 & 17 Geo. 5. c. 51) the Central Electricity Board (CEB) was established.{{Cite book|last=Electricity Council|title=Electricity Council Electricity supply in the United Kingdom: a Chronology|publisher=Electricity Council|year=1987|isbn=085188105X|location=London|pages=45, 60}} The CEB identified high efficiency ‘selected’ power station that would supply electricity most effectively; Lancaster became a selected station. The CEB also constructed the National Grid (1927–33) to connect power stations within a region. Lancaster was a node on the major north–south line from Kilmarnock in Scotland to Carlisle, Lancaster, Stoke-on-Trent, Bristol and Hayle Cornwall.{{Cite book|last=Hannah|first=Leslie| author-link = Leslie Hannah | title=Electricity before Nationalisation|publisher=Macmillan|year=1979|isbn=0333220862|location=London|pages=119, 428}} The connection in Lancaster was at a 132 kV grid substation that was built south east of the Caton Road power station.{{Cite web|last=Open Infrastructure Map|title=Open Infrastructure Map|url=https://openinframap.org/#12/54.06673/-2.79522https://openinframap.org/#12/54.06673/-2.79522|access-date=2 August 2020|website=Open Infrastructure Map}}

Demand for electricity increased – nationally from 9,169 GWh in 1930 to 24,263 GWh in 1940 – and a high pressure (HP) station was commissioned at Lancaster power station in 1942 and comprised:

• Boilers
• 2 × 205,000 lb/h Stirling (2 × 25.83 kg/s) coal-fired boilers operating at a steam pressure of 430 psi and 830 °F (29.7 bar and 443 °C).
• Generators
• 2 × 20.8 MW Metropolitan-Vickers turbo-alternators operating at 6.6 kV.

Upon nationalisation of the British electricity supply industry in 1948 under the provisions of the Electricity Act 1947{{Cite web|date=1947|title=Electricity Act 1947|url=https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/Geo6/10-11/54/contents/enacted|access-date=2 August 2020|website=legislation.gov.uk}} (10 & 11 Geo. 6. c. 54), the Lancaster electricity undertaking was abolished, ownership of Lancaster 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 Lancaster electricity undertaking were transferred to the North Western Electricity Board (NORWEB).

The total installed plant capacity at Lancaster power station in the mid-1950s was 50.25 MW.

Operating details of the station were as follows:Central Electricity Generating Board, Annual Report and Accounts 1961, CEGB, London, 1961Central Electricity Generating Board, Annual Report and Accounts 1962, CEGB, London, 1962Central Electricity Generating Board, Annual Report and Accounts 1963, CEGB, London, 1963{{Cite book|last=CEGB|title=CEGB Statistical Yearbook 1972|publisher=CEGB|year=1972|location=London|pages=17}}Electricity Commission, Generation of Electricity in Great Britain year ended 31st December 1946. London: HMSO, 1947.

In 1958 the Lancaster electricity district supplied an area of 235 square miles and a population of 104,220. The amount of electricity sold and the number and types of consumers was as follows:

In 1958 the above totals were made up of the following:

Lancaster power station closed on 25 October 1976.Hansard, Written Answers, 16 January 1984 (volume 52) Coal-fired power stations The buildings were subsequently demolished. The site is now occupied by commercial and industrial units.

The 132 kV substation to the east of the site remains operational. The substation has a 132 kV connection to Heysham Nuclear power station.

• Timeline of the UK electricity supply industry
• List of power stations in England
• Ribble power station
• Heysham nuclear power station

{{Reflist}}

{{North West Power Stations}}

Category:Coal-fired power stations in England

Category:Demolished power stations in the United Kingdom

Category:Former power stations in England

Category:Buildings and structures in Lancaster, Lancashire