Carrington Power Station
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Carrington Power Station | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Country | England |
| Location | Greater Manchester, North West England |
| Coordinates | 53°26′09″N 2°24′39″W / 53.435771°N 2.410892°W |
| Status | Operational |
| Construction began |
|
| Commission date |
|
| Decommission date | 1991 (coal) |
| Operators | Central Electricity Authority (1956–1957) Central Electricity Generating Board (1957–1990) PowerGen (1990–1991) |
| Thermal power station | |
| Primary fuel | Natural gas |
| Combined cycle? | Yes |
| Power generation | |
| Units operational | 2 (combined cycle gas) |
| Units planned | 4 × 60 MW |
| Units decommissioned | 4 (coal) |
| Nameplate capacity |
|
grid reference SJ728933 | |
Carrington Power Station is a combined cycle gas turbine power station, which was completed in Autumn 2016 and began commercial operation on 18 September 2016.[1] It is located on the site of a former coal-fired power station, close to the villages of Carrington and Partington in the Greater Manchester Area and 12 km (7.5 mi) southwest of Manchester City Centre. The Manchester Ship Canal and the River Mersey run alongside the site, in Trafford, Greater Manchester, in North West England.
Background
The station's site, on the south-east bank of the point where the River Mersey runs into the Manchester Ship Canal, was acquired by Manchester Corporation in 1916 as an alternative site for Barton Power Station, but was never developed. The construction of a coal-fired power station on the site did not occur until after the Second World War. The Manchester Corporation Electricity Department began planning the station in 1947. Planning was continued by the British Electricity Authority, following the nationalisation of the industry in 1948. It was initially planned for the site to comprise two stations; an A station and a B station. Each station was to have a capacity of 240 megawatts (MW), a total capacity of 480 MW over the site, but only the A station was built.[2]
Construction, design and specification
Because the station's site was surrounded by water on two sides, its strata were variable and so all of the buildings' foundations were piled. Approximately 7,850 piles were made, all of reinforced concrete construction, with an average length of 30 feet (9.1 m) and with a load of 50 tonnes per pile. The station's main buildings consisted of a turbine hall, boiler house and a pair of chimneys. Other structures included workshops, storage areas, a canteen and office block buildings. The approximate dimensions of the main buildings measured 480 feet (150 m) by 275 feet (84 m). 10,300 tonnes of steel was used in the main buildings' steel frame, erection of which began in November 1949, and the construction of the superstructure beginning in December 1950. The steel frame was clad with brick, while copings and cills were made from artificial stone. The station had granolithic flooring, but the turbine hall and boiler room floors were tiled. The roofs were made from reinforced concrete with glass glazing. Two elevators were provided, to give access to all floors. The station's two chimneys were each 350 feet (110 m) high and of brick construction.[2] Ten million bricks were used in the construction of the station.[3][4]
Commissioning of the station's first generating set took place in 1953. All of the station's generating sets were commissioned by 1956.[5] The station was officially opened by Sir William Walker on 20 July 1956. By then, the British Electricity Authority had become the Central Electricity Authority.[2] This in turn became the Central Electricity Generating Board in 1957.
Operation
The station generated electricity using four 60 megawatt (MW) Metropolitan-Vickers turbo-alternators, giving the station a total generating capacity of 240 MW. Steam for the generators was provided by seven boilers. Boilers no. 1 to 4 were produced by Babcock & Wilcox, and boilers no. 5 to 7 by John Brown Land Boilers. The latter were the first made by this company to be commissioned by the Central Electricity Authority.[2] The boilers had a rated output of 45 kg/s; steam conditions were 62.06 bar and 482 °C.[6]
Initially the station operated at base load, and maintained a good load factor into the middle of its life.
The generating capacity and electricity output from Carrington power station is given in the following table.[6][7][8][9]
| Year | 1954 | 1955 | 1956 | 1957 | 1958 | 1961 | 1962 | 1963 | 1967 | 1972 | 1979 | 1982 | 1989 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Installed capacity, MW | 56 | 112 | 168 | 244 | 240 | 256 | 256 | 256 | 240 | 256 | 256 | 256 | 240 |
| Electricity output, GWh | 118.191 | 687.620 | 816.664 | 1048.611 | 1699.250 | 1242.6 | 1227.1 | 1528.8 | 1743.4 | 1063.129 | 879.846 | 712.120 | ? |
The electricity output is demonstrated by the following graph.
Between 1984 and 1985 the station broke its own output records. In the final years of its operating life it retained a high availability, to meet the peaks of winter evening electricity demands.[10] After the United Kingdom's electric supply industry was privatised in 1990, the station was operated by PowerGen.[5] It continued generating electricity until it was closed in 1991, and was demolished several years later.[11]
