Carville Power Station

Infobox UK power station
static_

static_image_caption=An aerial view of Carville B Power Station, 1963.
os_grid_reference=NZ305660
latitude=54.98803
longitude=-1.522515
country=England
region=North East England
shire_county=Tyne and Wear
operator=Newcastle-upon-Tyne Electric Supply Company
fuel=Coal-fired
fuel_capacity=10,000 kW and 55,000 kW
opened=1904
closed=

Carville Power Station was a coal-fired power station situated in Wallsend near Newcastle upon Tyne, in North East England. Two power stations stood on the site over the years; Carville A Power Station, the first station on the site, and Carville B Power Station, an extension of the A station. Carville power station was a major help in increasing the productivity of the neighbouring shipyards and local coal mines by providing them with a ready source of electricity.

Carville A Power Station

Carville A Power Station was built in 1904 by British electrical engineering consultants Merz & McLellan. It was built to help the Newcastle-upon-Tyne Electric Supply Company cope with the rising demand for electricity for street lighting. The station's design set the pattern for power station layout and design for most of the early twentieth century. [cite web
title = New Power
work = Making the Modern World
publisher =
url = http://www.makingthemodernworld.org.uk/stories/the_second_industrial_revolution/05.ST.01/?scene=7
accessdate = 2008-06-29]

Carville A used a pair of 3,500 kilowatt (kW) and a pair of 1,500 kW steam turbines, all made by C. A. Parsons and Company. When built, the larger 3,500 kw units were double the capacity of any steam turbines that had been built up until that point, and were then tested to be operating at over 5000 kW in 1907. At the time of its opening, Carville A power station was the largest power station in the UK. The nearby River Tyne was used to cool the station's water system. [cite web
title = Carville Power Station, 1907.
work =
publisher = Science and Society
url = http://www.scienceandsociety.co.uk/results.asp?

accessdate = 2008-06-29]

Carville B Power Station

Carville B Power Station was an extension of the A station and was built and opened in 1916. This extension consisted of a replacement of the existing steam turbines with five 11,000 kW turbo-alternators. The station was now equipped to supply power to over 60 square miles; from Shilbottle in Northumberland right down to Malton in North Yorkshire. Carville B long held the record as the most economical power station in the world. [cite web
title = Carville Power Station
work = Tomorrow's History
publisher =
url = http://www.tomorrows-history.com/Items/OriginalIE/ItemNT0500140001.htm
accessdate = 2008-06-29]

The station was still in operation in the 1960s but has since closed and been subsequently demolished.

References