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Deptford Power Station
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Deptford Power Station
Three distinct coal-fired power stations were built at Deptford on the south bank of the River Thames, the first of which is regarded as the first central high-voltage power station in the world.
One of the first premises in London to be supplied with electricity was the Grosvenor Gallery in Bond Street. It was the brainchild of the Earl of Crawford, who had been inspired in 1881 by the International Exposition of Electricity in Paris. A power plant was duly built at the Grosvenor Gallery. It was designed to supply just lighting for the gallery but it was soon extended to supply nearby shops and residences and a larger power plant was opened in 1884. With the prospect of expanding still further, the London Electric Supply Corporation was formed (LESCo). Principal shareholders were the Earl of Crawford, his friend Sir Coutts Lindsay and Sir Coutts’ brother, Lord Wantage.
There were environmental objections to large-scale power generation in Central London, so LESCo decided to move to a new site in Deptford and to use the Grosvenor Gallery site as a substation. A feature of the Grosvenor scheme was its use of alternating current (AC) in preference to direct current (DC). The use of AC allowed the voltage to be raised to 10 kV for transmission between Deptford and Grosvenor Gallery. High-voltage cables were laid alongside the London and Greenwich Railway line, but cable design at that time was rudimentary, having short lengths and many joints. This caused a voltage drop of some 10% from end to end. In order to supply at 10 kV at Grosvenor Gallery substation, the design voltage at Deptford had to be set at 11 kV, which is why national transmission voltages became standardised in multiples of eleven.
Sebastian de Ferranti was appointed to engineer the scheme, and the world's first central power station opened at Deptford in 1889. ‘Central’ means that it was remote from most of its consumers. To distinguish it from later adjacent developments, Ferranti's power station subsequently took the name Deptford East LP. It was pioneering not just because it was "central" but because of its unprecedented scale and high voltage. It was built on a 3-acre warehouse site called The Stowage which once belonged to the East India Company and was later used by the General Steam Navigation Company.
The first generating machinery to be installed at Deptford was that which had served at the Grosvenor Gallery station. The alternators were of the Ferranti type, the first being driven by belts from three Marshall engines of 250 H.P., 250 H.P., and 400 H.P. respectively. The engines could be connected by clutches as the load required, all three engines being clutched in to drive the alternator at full load. The other generator was driven by ropes from a 750 H.P. Corliss engine, built by Hick, Hargreaves and Co. The generators were at that time the largest in the country. They had armatures 8ft. 6in. diameter, running at 250 revolutions per minute and produced single-phase current at 2500 volts, this pressure being increased to 10,000 volts for transmission by step-up transformers.
In 1889 two 10,000 Volt Ferranti alternators driven by two 1500 hp Hick, Hargreaves reciprocating steam engines were installed, supplied by 24 boilers burning coal brought by collier from Newcastle. There were teething problems both at the power station and at the Grosvenor Gallery substation, resulting in lengthy shutdowns and loss of customers. Ferranti himself was sacked in 1891 and succeeded by G. W. Partridge as chief engineer. The plant was rebuilt with steam turbines and other improvements, and electricity supply eventually became reliable. Demand increased steadily and by 1912 plant of 16,000kW capacity was installed supplying customers through three different systems as follows:
In 1923 the AC plant comprised: 1 × 700 kW, 2 × 1,000 kW, 1 × 1,200 kW, 1 × 1,400 and 5 × 2,000 kW reciprocating engine driven generators; there were 2 × 3,500 kW, 2 × 7,500 and 1 × 15,000 kW turbo-alternators. The DC supply was generated by a single 200 kW reciprocating engine and generator. The total installed capacity was 52.5 MW. The boiler plant produced a total of 490,000 lb/hr (61.73 kg/s) of steam. In 1923 the station generated 53.007 GWh of electricity, some of this was used in the plant, the total amount sold was 46.044 GWh. The revenue from sales of current was £362,133, this gave a surplus of revenue over expenses of £143,574.
By 1929 installed capacity had reached 100MW and the plant comprised three turbo-alternators of 4,000 KW and one of 7,500 kW capacity, generating at 2500 volts to supply 83 cycle/second load; two machines of 8,750 kW and 15,000 kW respectively to supply industrial load at 6,600 Volts 3 phase, 25 cycles/sec; and for the Southern Railway service there are three 20,000 kW sets, generating three-phase 25 cycles/sec at 11,000 volts.
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Deptford Power Station
Three distinct coal-fired power stations were built at Deptford on the south bank of the River Thames, the first of which is regarded as the first central high-voltage power station in the world.
One of the first premises in London to be supplied with electricity was the Grosvenor Gallery in Bond Street. It was the brainchild of the Earl of Crawford, who had been inspired in 1881 by the International Exposition of Electricity in Paris. A power plant was duly built at the Grosvenor Gallery. It was designed to supply just lighting for the gallery but it was soon extended to supply nearby shops and residences and a larger power plant was opened in 1884. With the prospect of expanding still further, the London Electric Supply Corporation was formed (LESCo). Principal shareholders were the Earl of Crawford, his friend Sir Coutts Lindsay and Sir Coutts’ brother, Lord Wantage.
There were environmental objections to large-scale power generation in Central London, so LESCo decided to move to a new site in Deptford and to use the Grosvenor Gallery site as a substation. A feature of the Grosvenor scheme was its use of alternating current (AC) in preference to direct current (DC). The use of AC allowed the voltage to be raised to 10 kV for transmission between Deptford and Grosvenor Gallery. High-voltage cables were laid alongside the London and Greenwich Railway line, but cable design at that time was rudimentary, having short lengths and many joints. This caused a voltage drop of some 10% from end to end. In order to supply at 10 kV at Grosvenor Gallery substation, the design voltage at Deptford had to be set at 11 kV, which is why national transmission voltages became standardised in multiples of eleven.
Sebastian de Ferranti was appointed to engineer the scheme, and the world's first central power station opened at Deptford in 1889. ‘Central’ means that it was remote from most of its consumers. To distinguish it from later adjacent developments, Ferranti's power station subsequently took the name Deptford East LP. It was pioneering not just because it was "central" but because of its unprecedented scale and high voltage. It was built on a 3-acre warehouse site called The Stowage which once belonged to the East India Company and was later used by the General Steam Navigation Company.
The first generating machinery to be installed at Deptford was that which had served at the Grosvenor Gallery station. The alternators were of the Ferranti type, the first being driven by belts from three Marshall engines of 250 H.P., 250 H.P., and 400 H.P. respectively. The engines could be connected by clutches as the load required, all three engines being clutched in to drive the alternator at full load. The other generator was driven by ropes from a 750 H.P. Corliss engine, built by Hick, Hargreaves and Co. The generators were at that time the largest in the country. They had armatures 8ft. 6in. diameter, running at 250 revolutions per minute and produced single-phase current at 2500 volts, this pressure being increased to 10,000 volts for transmission by step-up transformers.
In 1889 two 10,000 Volt Ferranti alternators driven by two 1500 hp Hick, Hargreaves reciprocating steam engines were installed, supplied by 24 boilers burning coal brought by collier from Newcastle. There were teething problems both at the power station and at the Grosvenor Gallery substation, resulting in lengthy shutdowns and loss of customers. Ferranti himself was sacked in 1891 and succeeded by G. W. Partridge as chief engineer. The plant was rebuilt with steam turbines and other improvements, and electricity supply eventually became reliable. Demand increased steadily and by 1912 plant of 16,000kW capacity was installed supplying customers through three different systems as follows:
In 1923 the AC plant comprised: 1 × 700 kW, 2 × 1,000 kW, 1 × 1,200 kW, 1 × 1,400 and 5 × 2,000 kW reciprocating engine driven generators; there were 2 × 3,500 kW, 2 × 7,500 and 1 × 15,000 kW turbo-alternators. The DC supply was generated by a single 200 kW reciprocating engine and generator. The total installed capacity was 52.5 MW. The boiler plant produced a total of 490,000 lb/hr (61.73 kg/s) of steam. In 1923 the station generated 53.007 GWh of electricity, some of this was used in the plant, the total amount sold was 46.044 GWh. The revenue from sales of current was £362,133, this gave a surplus of revenue over expenses of £143,574.
By 1929 installed capacity had reached 100MW and the plant comprised three turbo-alternators of 4,000 KW and one of 7,500 kW capacity, generating at 2500 volts to supply 83 cycle/second load; two machines of 8,750 kW and 15,000 kW respectively to supply industrial load at 6,600 Volts 3 phase, 25 cycles/sec; and for the Southern Railway service there are three 20,000 kW sets, generating three-phase 25 cycles/sec at 11,000 volts.
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