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Bankside Power Station
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Bankside Power Station
Bankside Power Station is a decommissioned power station located on the south bank of the River Thames, in the Bankside area of the Borough of Southwark, London. It generated electricity from 1891 to 1981. It was also used as a training base for electrical and mechanical student apprenticeships from all over the country. Since 2000 the building has housed the Tate Modern art museum and gallery.
The pioneer Bankside power station was built at Meredith Wharf Bankside in 1891. It was owned and operated by the City of London Electric Lighting Company (CLELCo) and supplied electricity to the City and to part of north Southwark. The generating equipment was installed by the Brush Electrical Engineering Company and comprised two pairs of 25 kW Brush arc-lighters and two 100 kW single phase alternators generating at 2 kV and 100 Hz. This equipment first supplied direct current (DC) electricity to arc lamp street lights in Queen Victoria Street on 25 June 1891. Alternating current (AC) for domestic and commercial consumers was first supplied on 14 December 1891, this was a single-phase, 100 Hz, three-wire, 204/102 volt system. Electricity cables were carried over Southwark bridge and Blackfriars bridge.
The power station, later known as Bankside A, was extended several times as the demand for electricity grew.
An engine room, 230 ft (70 m) long and 50 ft (15 m) wide, was built in 1893 with two 200 kW, two 350 kW and two 400 kW alternators driven by Willans engines. The associated boiler house was the same length and had nine Babcock and Wilcox boilers. In 1895 the engine room was extended to 424 ft (129 m) and the boiler house to 300 ft (91 m) containing 22 boilers. In 1896 two Ferranti two Ferranti compound engines driving 1,500 kW alternators were installed.
In 1900 a new power house was built to install continuous-current plant, consisting of three 1,000 kW Allis-Westinghouse and six 2,000 kW Musgrave-Westinghouse sets. These were partly to provide a DC power supply to Fleet Street printing presses. These were followed by plant consisting of a 2,500 kW Parsons turbine driving dynamos in tandem and three 2,500 kW Parsons turbo-alternators, the latter being used for supplying the lighting load of the more remote districts.
In 1901 the boiler house was doubled in width and contained 46 boilers. In the engine room there were ten British Thomson-Houston alternators directly coupled to three-crank Willans engines, eight Brush alternators with a capacity of 3,600 kW driven by two-cylinder compound Brush engines, and two Ferranti compound engines driving 1,500 kW alternators at 150 RPM, making an aggregate capacity of 10,500 kW.
The first 2,500 kW turbo-alternator was installed in December 1910 and a second in January 1911, others followed at nearly yearly intervals. In 1913 a further 2,500 kW Parsons turbo-generator of the same pattern as the previous ones also a set consisting of two 2,000 kW Westinghouse generators driven from a Parsons turbine through gearing. By 1920 there were seven turbo-alternators with an aggregate capacity of 19,500 kW. Until 1919 the system of generation was 2 kV, single-phase AC, and 450 V DC, this was changed that year to 11 kV, three-phase AC. The steam conditions were also increased from 150 psi to 250 psi with superheat to 660 °F (349 °C).
Over the period 1921–1928 a new boiler house was built alongside the east face of the power house. This had 18 boilers. The coal strike of 1921 led to six of the boilers being specified for oil firing, although two of these were later returned to coal firing. The old boiler house and its three 150 ft (46 m) chimneys were demolished.
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Bankside Power Station
Bankside Power Station is a decommissioned power station located on the south bank of the River Thames, in the Bankside area of the Borough of Southwark, London. It generated electricity from 1891 to 1981. It was also used as a training base for electrical and mechanical student apprenticeships from all over the country. Since 2000 the building has housed the Tate Modern art museum and gallery.
The pioneer Bankside power station was built at Meredith Wharf Bankside in 1891. It was owned and operated by the City of London Electric Lighting Company (CLELCo) and supplied electricity to the City and to part of north Southwark. The generating equipment was installed by the Brush Electrical Engineering Company and comprised two pairs of 25 kW Brush arc-lighters and two 100 kW single phase alternators generating at 2 kV and 100 Hz. This equipment first supplied direct current (DC) electricity to arc lamp street lights in Queen Victoria Street on 25 June 1891. Alternating current (AC) for domestic and commercial consumers was first supplied on 14 December 1891, this was a single-phase, 100 Hz, three-wire, 204/102 volt system. Electricity cables were carried over Southwark bridge and Blackfriars bridge.
The power station, later known as Bankside A, was extended several times as the demand for electricity grew.
An engine room, 230 ft (70 m) long and 50 ft (15 m) wide, was built in 1893 with two 200 kW, two 350 kW and two 400 kW alternators driven by Willans engines. The associated boiler house was the same length and had nine Babcock and Wilcox boilers. In 1895 the engine room was extended to 424 ft (129 m) and the boiler house to 300 ft (91 m) containing 22 boilers. In 1896 two Ferranti two Ferranti compound engines driving 1,500 kW alternators were installed.
In 1900 a new power house was built to install continuous-current plant, consisting of three 1,000 kW Allis-Westinghouse and six 2,000 kW Musgrave-Westinghouse sets. These were partly to provide a DC power supply to Fleet Street printing presses. These were followed by plant consisting of a 2,500 kW Parsons turbine driving dynamos in tandem and three 2,500 kW Parsons turbo-alternators, the latter being used for supplying the lighting load of the more remote districts.
In 1901 the boiler house was doubled in width and contained 46 boilers. In the engine room there were ten British Thomson-Houston alternators directly coupled to three-crank Willans engines, eight Brush alternators with a capacity of 3,600 kW driven by two-cylinder compound Brush engines, and two Ferranti compound engines driving 1,500 kW alternators at 150 RPM, making an aggregate capacity of 10,500 kW.
The first 2,500 kW turbo-alternator was installed in December 1910 and a second in January 1911, others followed at nearly yearly intervals. In 1913 a further 2,500 kW Parsons turbo-generator of the same pattern as the previous ones also a set consisting of two 2,000 kW Westinghouse generators driven from a Parsons turbine through gearing. By 1920 there were seven turbo-alternators with an aggregate capacity of 19,500 kW. Until 1919 the system of generation was 2 kV, single-phase AC, and 450 V DC, this was changed that year to 11 kV, three-phase AC. The steam conditions were also increased from 150 psi to 250 psi with superheat to 660 °F (349 °C).
Over the period 1921–1928 a new boiler house was built alongside the east face of the power house. This had 18 boilers. The coal strike of 1921 led to six of the boilers being specified for oil firing, although two of these were later returned to coal firing. The old boiler house and its three 150 ft (46 m) chimneys were demolished.
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