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Didcot power stations
Didcot power station (Didcot B Power Station) is an active natural gas power plant that supplies the National Grid. A combined coal and oil power plant, Didcot A, was the first station on the site, which opened in 1970 and was demolished between 2014 and 2020. The power station is situated in Sutton Courtenay, near Didcot in Oxfordshire, England. Didcot OCGT is a gas-oil power plant, originally part of Didcot A and now independent. It continues to provide emergency backup power for the National Grid.
A large section of the boiler house at Didcot A Power Station collapsed on 23 February 2016 while the building was being prepared for demolition. Four men were killed in the collapse. The combined power stations featured a chimney, demolished in 2020, which was one of the tallest structures in the UK, and could be seen from much of the surrounding landscape. It previously had six hyperboloid cooling towers, with three demolished in 2014 and the remaining three in 2019. RWE Npower applied for a certificate of immunity from English Heritage, to stop the towers being listed, to allow their destruction. In February 2020, the final chimney of Didcot A was demolished.
Didcot A Power Station was a coal and gas-fired power station designed by architect Frederick Gibberd. One of the Hinton Heavies, construction of the 2,000 MWe power station for the Central Electricity Generating Board began during 1964, and was completed in 1968 at a cost of £104m. Up to 2,400 workers were employed at peak times. The station began generating power on 30 September 1970.
It was located on a 1.2 square kilometres (300 acres) site, formerly part of the Ministry of Defence Central Ordnance Depot. A vote was held in Didcot and surrounding villages on whether the power station should be built. There was strong opposition from Sutton Courtenay but the yes vote was carried, due to the number of jobs that would be created in the area.
The main chimney was 200 m (660 ft) tall with the six cooling towers 114 m (374 ft) each. The cooling towers were arranged in two groups of three. These were located to the north west and to the south of the main building. The original design was for eight cooling towers but the consultant architect Frederick Gibberd proposed that the number be reduced to six to mitigate the visual impact of the station. The consequent limitation in cooling capability reduced the overall thermal efficiency of the power station.
English Heritage declined to give listed building status to Didcot A Power Station in 2013. Though it recognised there were some interesting features, for example the "carefully designed" setting and Gibberd's detailing, there were better examples elsewhere.[dead link] The station ceased operation on 22 March 2013.
The station used four 500 MWe generating units. In 2003 Didcot A burnt 3.7Mt of coal. The station burned mostly pulverised coal, but later also co-fired with natural gas. Didcot was the first large power station to be converted to have this function. A small amount of biomass, such as sawdust, was burned at the plant. This was introduced to try to depend more on renewable sources following the introduction of the Kyoto Protocol and, in April 2002, the Renewables Obligation. It was hoped that biomass could replace 2% of coal burnt.
In 1996 and 1997, Thales UK was awarded contracts by Innogy, now Npower, to implement the APMS supervisory and control system on all of the four units, then enabling optimised emissions monitoring and reporting. Between 2005 and 2007 Didcot installed overfire air systems on the four boilers to reduce emissions of nitrous oxide. This ensured compliance with the Large Combustion Plant Directive.
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Didcot power stations
Didcot power station (Didcot B Power Station) is an active natural gas power plant that supplies the National Grid. A combined coal and oil power plant, Didcot A, was the first station on the site, which opened in 1970 and was demolished between 2014 and 2020. The power station is situated in Sutton Courtenay, near Didcot in Oxfordshire, England. Didcot OCGT is a gas-oil power plant, originally part of Didcot A and now independent. It continues to provide emergency backup power for the National Grid.
A large section of the boiler house at Didcot A Power Station collapsed on 23 February 2016 while the building was being prepared for demolition. Four men were killed in the collapse. The combined power stations featured a chimney, demolished in 2020, which was one of the tallest structures in the UK, and could be seen from much of the surrounding landscape. It previously had six hyperboloid cooling towers, with three demolished in 2014 and the remaining three in 2019. RWE Npower applied for a certificate of immunity from English Heritage, to stop the towers being listed, to allow their destruction. In February 2020, the final chimney of Didcot A was demolished.
Didcot A Power Station was a coal and gas-fired power station designed by architect Frederick Gibberd. One of the Hinton Heavies, construction of the 2,000 MWe power station for the Central Electricity Generating Board began during 1964, and was completed in 1968 at a cost of £104m. Up to 2,400 workers were employed at peak times. The station began generating power on 30 September 1970.
It was located on a 1.2 square kilometres (300 acres) site, formerly part of the Ministry of Defence Central Ordnance Depot. A vote was held in Didcot and surrounding villages on whether the power station should be built. There was strong opposition from Sutton Courtenay but the yes vote was carried, due to the number of jobs that would be created in the area.
The main chimney was 200 m (660 ft) tall with the six cooling towers 114 m (374 ft) each. The cooling towers were arranged in two groups of three. These were located to the north west and to the south of the main building. The original design was for eight cooling towers but the consultant architect Frederick Gibberd proposed that the number be reduced to six to mitigate the visual impact of the station. The consequent limitation in cooling capability reduced the overall thermal efficiency of the power station.
English Heritage declined to give listed building status to Didcot A Power Station in 2013. Though it recognised there were some interesting features, for example the "carefully designed" setting and Gibberd's detailing, there were better examples elsewhere.[dead link] The station ceased operation on 22 March 2013.
The station used four 500 MWe generating units. In 2003 Didcot A burnt 3.7Mt of coal. The station burned mostly pulverised coal, but later also co-fired with natural gas. Didcot was the first large power station to be converted to have this function. A small amount of biomass, such as sawdust, was burned at the plant. This was introduced to try to depend more on renewable sources following the introduction of the Kyoto Protocol and, in April 2002, the Renewables Obligation. It was hoped that biomass could replace 2% of coal burnt.
In 1996 and 1997, Thales UK was awarded contracts by Innogy, now Npower, to implement the APMS supervisory and control system on all of the four units, then enabling optimised emissions monitoring and reporting. Between 2005 and 2007 Didcot installed overfire air systems on the four boilers to reduce emissions of nitrous oxide. This ensured compliance with the Large Combustion Plant Directive.