Ironbridge Power Station

Infobox UK power station
static_

static_image_caption=Ironbridge/Buildwas Power Station
os_grid_reference=SJ653037
latitude=52.63005
longitude=-2.511999
country=England
region=West Midlands
shire_county=Shropshire
operator=E.ON
fuel=Coal-fired
fuel_capacity=1,000 MW
opened= 1969

Ironbridge 'B' Power Station (also known as Buildwas Power Station) is the second of two coal-fired power stations that have occupied a site in Shropshire, England. The site lies in the Buildwas parish, in the Shrewsbury and Atcham borough. The station is on the banks of the River Severn, near the Ironbridge Gorge World Heritage Site, where the Industrial Revolution began.

Site selection

Ironbridge was first selected to be the site of a large modern ‘Super Station,’ by the West Midlands Joint Electricity Authority, in February 1927, on land earlier identified by Walsall Borough as being suitable for power generation in 1924. Stratton, M. 1994. Ironbridge and the Electric Revolution, John Murray Publishing] The proximity of the River Severn and several railway lines provided excellent access to both cooling water, and a source of coal; whilst the flat land formed by fluvial processes at the end of the last ice-age Toghill, P. 1990. Geology in Shropshire, Swan Hill Press] , was ideal for the construction of a large turbine hall.

Ironbridge A

Construction of the first Ironbridge Power Station, later to be christened Ironbridge ‘A’, began in 1929, and the first phase was completed in 1932. The full generating capacity of Ironbridge ‘A’ was not realised until major expansions and the commissioning of extra boilers and generating sets had been reached in 1939, for a total output of 200 megawatts (MW).

As a result of the increasing demand for electricity after the World War II it was decided by the Central Electricity Generating Board that a new, larger, 1000 MW station, called Ironbridge ‘B’, was to be constructed alongside Ironbridge ‘A’. Ironbridge 'A' ceased generating in 1981, and was demolished in 1983.

Ironbridge B

Parliamentary approval was sought and granted in 1962, and construction began in 1963, with plans to begin generating electricity in 1967. Due to construction delays, the implementation of improvements that had been pioneered during the construction of similar stations using the new 500 MW units, and some limited industrial action, Ironbridge ‘B’ finally began feeding power into the national grid on the 11th June 1969. Full capacity was not reached until the second 500 MW unit began generating in February 1970.

Project architect Alan Clark, worked closely with landscape architect Kenneth Booth in order that the station merge as seamlessly as possible into its natural surroundings , and in this respect it is unique amongst British coal fired stations. When viewed from Ironbridge, the surroundings of the station are hidden by wooded hills, and the cooling towers have deliberately been constructed from concrete to which a red pigment was added (at a cost of £11,000 in the 1960s) to blend with the colour of the local soil. The towers cannot be seen at all from the world famous landmark, the Iron Bridge. The chimney stands 671 ft (204 metres) high, and is the tallest structure in Shropshire, taller than the Blackpool Tower and London's BT Tower and the fifth tallest chimney in the UK. [ [http://skyscraperpage.com/diagrams/?buildingID=3445 Drawings of Ironbridge Power Station] ]

The Turbine Hall is decoratively clad in chipped granite faced concrete panels, aluminium sheeting, and glass. The hall obscures the rather more functional metal clad boiler house from view. A free-standing administration block continues the theme of concrete panelling; albeit with extensive use made of large floor to ceiling windows. Period fittings within the administration block include a board room, containing murals that reference the industries of the Ironbridge Gorge, and a grand entrance hall with an interesting metallic mural.

So impressive were the measures taken to ensure that the power station was an asset to the gorge, and not an eyesore, that it was short listed for a Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors/The Times conservation award in 1973.

Ironbridge today

In 1990 the CEGB was split into different companies for privatisation and Buildwas power station went through a number of transfers of ownership before ending up as became part of Powergen. In 2001 Powergen was taken over by E.ON, an energy company based in Germany.

The 970 MWe coal fired power station is the only major generator of electricity in Shropshire. The plant consumes about 1.2 million tonnes of coal, 20,000 tonnes of oil per year and generated 2,990 GWh of electricity in 2004. [Shropshire County Council (2005)]

Ironbridge has been opted out of the Large Combustion Plants Directive which means it will only be allowed to run for up to 20,000 hours after 1 January 2008 and must close by 31 December 2015. [cite web
url=http://www.berr.gov.uk/files/file37586.pdf
title=The Role of Coal in Electricity Generation
publisher=Association of Electricity Producers]

Coal supplies

Approximately 3000-6000 tonnes a day of coal is delivered to the power station via a branch line railway through Madeley, Ironbridge and Coalbrookdale, crossing the River Severn via, the grade 2 Listed, Albert Edward Bridge. The railway branch joins the Wolverhampton - Shrewsbury main railway line at Madeley Junction.

Scheduled passenger services on the branch line were withdrawn in the 1960s and it is kept open primarily to carry coal to the power station. However, the Telford Steam Railway has aspirations to take over one of the tracks between the power station and Lightmoor Junction as part of their southern extension from Horsehay through Doseley.

A steam locomotive hauled special passenger train, organised by railtour company 'Vintage Trains', visited the branch on 3 November 2007. The tour was titled 'Pannier to Ironbridge' and was hauled by former Great Western Railway 0-6-0 pannier tank no. 9466, which ran a return trip between Tyseley, near Birmingham, and Ironbridge.

Pollution claims and scheduled closure

Environmental group Friends of the Earth claim that as of 2006, it is the second worst polluter in the United Kingdom per megawatt output. [cite web
url=http://www.foe.co.uk/campaigns/climate/press_for_change/carbon_dinosaurs/ironbridge_power_station.html
title=Carbon Dinosaurs
publisher= Friends of the Earth |archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20041019033245/http://www.foe.co.uk/campaigns/climate/press_for_change/carbon_dinosaurs/ironbridge_power_station.html
archivedate=2004-10-19] According to a memorandum submitted by Mitsui Babcock to the Select Committee on Environmental Audit, the power station must close by 2015. [http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200506/cmselect/cmenvaud/584/584we48.htm Memorandum submitted by Mitsui Babcock to the House of Commons] ]

See also

* List of tallest buildings and structures in Great Britain

References

External links

* [http://www.stelor.plus.com/pictures/ironbridge/power.jpgPhoto of Ironbridge 'B' Station]
* [http://www.telfordsteamrailway.co.uk Telford Steam Railway]
* [http://www.broseley.org.uk/pope/Power%20station%20L7.jpgPhoto of Ironbridge 'A' Station]
* [http://www.apms.org.uk/ APMS: Advanced Plant Management System]