Bromborough power stations

Central power station (53°20′29.5″N 2°57′51.7″W / 53.341528°N 2.964361°W / 53.341528; -2.964361) was built by Lever Brothers in 1918 to supply electricity for their manufacturing processes at Port Sunlight works. It initially comprised:^[9]

• 3 × coal-fired boilers
• 1 × Siemens Brothers 5 MW generating set.

The station was adjacent to the River Mersey which provided water for the condensing plant. In 1929 electricity was installed in the houses of Port Sunlight Village.^[9]

In the early 1930 the Central Power Station was expanded with three coal-fired boilers and a 6.25 MW generating set. The station then had a rated capacity of 11.5 MW.^[9]

In the 1950s a connection to the National Grid was installed. When local demand was high electricity could be imported from the grid, and conversely could be fed into the grid when local demand was low.

Some of the Unilever manufacturing processes required steam. A 1.3 MW British Thomson-Houston back-pressure generator was installed at the Central Station. This comprised a steam turbine fed with steam at 230 psi (15.9 bar) from the existing boilers. The expanding steam drove an alternator and discharged steam at 50 psi (3.4 bar), which was used in the works processes.^[9]

In the 1970s the oldest three boilers were decommissioned and part of the boiler house was demolished. The generating plant was decommissioned in 1998^[10] and most of the site was demolished, the 11 kV control room block was retained until new electricity supplies from the National Grid were installed.^[9]

To help meet increased demand for electricity and steam Unilever Group built an oil-fired power station (53°20'42.9"N 2°58'33.0"W) on Thermal Road industrial estate Bromborough which was commissioned in 1958.^[9]

The station comprised:^[9][11]

• 4 × oil-fired boilers producing 45 tons/h (45 tonnes/h) of steam at 650 psi (44.8 bar) and 450 °C, steam was fed to:
• 2 × 5 MW generating sets, after expansion in the turbine steam was discharged at 230 psi (15.9 bar) and supplied to the manufacturing plant and also to:
• 2 × 2.5 MW generating sets, steam was discharged at 110 psi (7.6 bar) and was supplied to the manufacturing plant.

The total electricity output was 14 MW and the station was designed to generate 80 GWh of electricity for the company's high voltage network.^[12] It supplied steam to 15 local companies and electricity to nearly 50 firms.^[11] The overall thermal efficiency of the station was about 78  per cent. The station had three slender concrete chimneys.

Oil was supplied to the station by a 4-inch diameter pipeline from Ellesmere Port. The power  station used 100,000 tonnes of fuel oil a year.^[12]

The station cost £2.5 million to build and in 1958 was the largest privately owned power station in the UK.^[12] It had two 250 feet (76.2 m) high chimneys.

In 1964 work started on expanding Merseyside Power Station to meet growing demand. The new plant comprised:^[9]

• 1 × 104 tons/h boiler delivering steam at 1,500 psi (103.4 bar) and 538 °C,
• 1 × Associated Electrical Industries (AEI) 5.4 MW turbo-alternator generating at 11kV. This set was supplied with steam at 1,500 psi and discharged steam at 650 psi (44.3 bar).
• 1 × 8.1 MW turbo-alternator generating at 11 kV. This set took steam at 44.3 bar and reduced the steam pressure to 110 psi (7.59 bar).

By 1966 the Unilever network had a total generating capacity of nearly 30 MW and provided steam at 50, 110, 230 and 1,500 psi (3.4, 7.6, 15.9 and 103 bar).^[9]

In 1974, a further extension to Merseyside Power Station was undertaken and comprised a single high pressure boiler (rated at 104 tons/h), and two back pressure generating sets (5.8 MW)  operating at 102/45 bar.^[9]

The specification and condition of the boilers and turbines in the last few years of operation were as follows.^[9]

The requirement for steam was reduced by new manufacturing processes and the aging generating plant was decommissioned in 1998.^[10] Merseyside Power Station was subsequently demolished.^[13][14]