Poole Power Station

The station was authorised in 1946 and constructed between 1946 and 1950, built out of local brick. Before construction could begin, 250,000 tonnes of chalk was imported from a quarry in Sturminster Marshall to reclaim 30 acres of land. On this was laid a mass concrete raft 500ft by 248ft to form a foundation for the transformer bay, turbine house and boiler-house which at the time was the largest concrete raft ever formed. To build the power station, millions of three colour bricks were made by Skykes and Sons of Creekmoor and The Upton Brick Works. Construction of the station required the driving of 30–40 ft piles for the two 325 ft (100m) tall chimneys that were the most noticeable features. Coal was delivered by sea using dedicated fleet of colliers and transferred by cranes (200 Tonnes/hr) and conveyors to the station. ^[1]An oil fired burner was installed in 1955. In its heyday, the station employed over 400 people.^[2]

The station had two Metropolitan Vickers 52.5 MW, two CA Parsons 52.5 MW, and two GEC 60 MW turbo-alternators.^[3] The first generating set was commissioned in December 1950, followed by further sets in July 1951, December 1951, June 1952, April 1958 and December 1958.^[3]

There were nine International Combustion Limited pulverised fuel superheating boilers each evaporating 340,000 pounds per hour of steam at 950 psi and 940 °F^[3] (42.84 kg/s, 65.5 bar and 504 °C).

The operating capacity and electricity output of the station was:^{[3][4][5][6][7]}