Blyth Power Station
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| Blyth Power Station | |
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  Blyth Power Station shown within Northumberland |
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| Fuel: | Coal-fired 1180MW |
| Commissioned: | 1958 |
| Decommissioned: | 2002 |
Blyth Power Station was a coal-fired power station situated at Cambois in Northumberland on the northern bank of the River Blyth between the tidal estuary and the North Sea. The site comprised of two stations, Blyth 'A' and Blyth 'B', with a combined generating capacity of 1180 megawatts (MW).
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[edit] History
Blyth A was opened in 1958 and was the first power station in Britain to be fitted with the new standard 120MW sets. Blyth B was constructed between 4 December 1961 and 9 September 1962 and opened later that year and was the first power station in Britain to have new 275MW sets installed. Both stations were constructed by Merz & McLellan.
In 1989 Blyth A Power Station won a place in the Guinness Book of Records by setting a world record for a plant of its size, when all four generating units achieved 200,000 running hours.[citation needed] Two years later, the site was used as a location for the sci-fi horror film Alien 3.
[edit] Operations
Buildings on the site included, boiler houses, chimneys, coal handling plant, coal stores, flue gas cleaning plant, power halls and switch houses.[1] Both power stations were of steel frame construction with aluminium cladding. The B station featured glazing too. The stations used to consume a total of 51,000 tonnes (50,190 LT/56,220 ST) of coal per week and 70,000 tonnes (68,890 LT/77,160 ST) per week during the winter. The station did this using a conveyor system that was integrated to feed both stations as necessary.[2] Blyth Power Station was the largest electricity generation site in England until Ferrybridge power station came into full use.
[edit] Closure & Demolition
Two 275MW units in the B station (units 5 & 6) were decommissioned as early as 1991, on the grounds of economy. The closure of the rest of the power station was announced in May 2000. Both stations were closed in January 2002 because they couldn't find a buyer, with the loss of 131 jobs.[3] At the time of its decommissioning Blyth Power Station was the oldest coal-fired power station in Britain. Between 2002 and 2004 the stations were demolished. The smaller buildings and structures were first to go, and were removed by July 2002. The larger buildings followed by July 2003. Finally at 12:00 GMT on 7 December 2003, the only remaining part of Blyth's Power Stations, the four chimneys, were demolished.
[edit] Future use of the site
In May 2007, a proposed plan to build a new £2 billion clean coal power station on the currently empty site was announced. RWE Npower have outlined proposals for three 800MW, high efficiency, coal fired units. If Npower succeed in their plans, work would begin in 2010 and the station would be finished by 2014. However, Blyth Valley Council has said the proposal does not fit with regeneration plans in the area.[4][5] Many residents living in the area feel that the land should be redeveloped for other purposes, rather than continue to be used as an industrial site.[weasel words] The MP for Wansbeck, Denis Murphy, stated that, although the project would have benefits for the area, he still had concerns.[6] Ronnie Campbell, the MP for Blyth Valley, claimed he would welcome the development as long as it did not have an adverse effect on the overall regeneration of the area.[7]
[edit] References
- ^ Structure details. SINE Project (Structural Images of the North East). Newcastle University. Retrieved on 2008-06-09.
- ^ About Blyth Power Station. About Blyth. Retrieved on 2008-06-09.
- ^ National Power. UK Business Park (2000-06-01). Retrieved on 2008-06-09. “National Power is to close the coal-fired Blyth Power Station with the loss of 131 jobs, having failed to find a buyer.”
- ^ "Power for the people", Evening Chronicle, Trinity Mirror, 2007-05-11. Retrieved on 2008-06-09. "Energy supplier RWE npower revealed the proposals for the environmentally friendly plant in Blyth, Northumberland, which, if it went ahead, could see millions of tonnes of foreign coal shipped into the port town. It is estimated around 1,500 construction jobs would be created up to the plant's completion in 2014 on the site of the old Blyth Power Station knocked down in 2003. Then more than 200 full-time staff would be needed for its day-to-day running."
- ^ "Firm plans new coal power station", BBC News, bbc.co.uk, 2007-05-11. Retrieved on 2008-06-09. "RWE Npower is proposing a £2bn plant on the site of the former Blyth Power Station - which was demolished four years ago. The firm, which has submitted limited plans to the government, says the new station would be cleaner and could create more than 150 jobs. However, Blyth Valley Council has said the proposal does not fit with regeneration plans in the area."
- ^ MP's concern at proposals for new power plant. www.newspostleader.co.uk (2007-07-05). Retrieved on 2007-10-03.
- ^ "Power for the people", Evening Chronicle, Trinity Mirror, 2007-05-11. Retrieved on 2008-06-09.
