Neptune Bank Power Station
Encyclopedia
Neptune Bank Power Station was a coal-fired power station
situated on the River Tyne
at Wallsend
near Newcastle upon Tyne
. Commissioned in 1901 by the Newcastle upon Tyne Electric Supply Company, the station was the first in the world to provide electricity for purposes other than domestic and street lighting. It was also the first in the world to generate electricity using three-phase
electrical power distribution at a voltage of 5,500 Volts.
The station had an initial generating capacity of 2,800 kW, which was increased to 3,000 kW a year after the station opened, with the introduction of two 1,500 kW Parsons
turbo alternators, the largest ever built at that time. The station closed in 1915, following the completion of an extension to Carville Power Station
and the opening of Dunston Power Station
.
. In January 1900 they erected Neptune Bank power station near the North Eastern Railway's
(NER) North Tyneside Loop
, midway between Wallsend and Walker
. In October 1900, NESCo acquired the entire power station from the WWUGC, with the exception of the cables and sub-station machinery installed for the purpose of supplying the works in the area in which the WWUGC had obtained Parliamentary powers. the WWUGC continued to buy electricity in bulk from NESCo.
The station was officially opened on 18 June 1901 by Lord Kelvin. At the opening he said:
The station was the first power station to generate electricity for industrial purposes, rather than just for domestic and street lighting, and this led to a rapid expansion of NESCo.
NESCo laid high-tension cables from the power station to various substations
in Newcastle upon Tyne. The company changed their system of supply, from 2,000 Volt
(V) single phase alternating current which had been used to distribute power from their Pandon Dene Power Station
, to three phase current at 5,500 V. This made NESCo the first statutory authority to supply in such a way. The scientific journal
, The Electrician
congradutalted NESCo in June 1901, stating that "not merely electric power supply on Tyneside was formally inaugurated last Tuesday, but the era of electric power utilisation all over the kingdom."
A year after the station came into operation, NESCo's original power station at Pandon Dene was closed and converted into a substation. The Pandon Dene station had originally supplied Newcastle city centre with electricity, but the new Neptune Bank station took over this supply, transmitting using high voltage cables laid in ducts, rendering the older station obsolete.
consulting partnership, and the first power station Merz & McLellan designed in the Newcastle area.
The station's buildings were built from corrugated iron, and the boiler house adjoined the engine room on its south facing side. Each of these two buildings measured 100 feet (30.5 m) by 52 feet (15.8 m). To the north east of the main station buildings lay the station's cooling pond
, where the station's circulating water was cooled by means of spray nozzles, capable of cooling 4,000,000 pounds of water per hour. This cooling system was adopted as it was cheaper than pumping water up from the nearby River Tyne
which was 60 feet (18.3 m) below the level of the station. The station was also equipped with a testing pond, capable of absorbing up to 1,500 kW.
Coal was delivered to the station via the NER's North Tyneside Loop. An electric locomotive was used to convey the coal from the railway to the boiler house. The station's boiler house was equipped with four batteries of two Babcock & Wilcox boilers. Each boiler had a capacity of 1,000 horsepower and a working pressure of 200 psi. Each was fitted with superheaters and mechanical stokers and had a heating surface of 4,020 square feet, with a superheat of 100 - 120 degrees Farenheit. Each could evaporate 14,000 pounds of water per hour. Ash waste from the boilers was discharged into trucks.
The station initially generated electricity using four 700 kilowatt (kW) alternator
s, each driven by a slow-speed triple expansion marine type reciprocating engine
, built by Wigham Richardson & Co.
and the Wallsend Slipway & Engineering Company
. The station was the first in the world to generate electricity using three-phase
electrical power distribution at a voltage of 5,500 V, and the first to generate direct current at different voltages. After the opening of Carville Power Station
in 1904, the voltage of transmission was raised to 6,000 V.
In 1902, two 1,500-kW Parsons
steam turbine
driven turbo-alternators were added to the initial equipment at the station. At the time, these were the largest three-phase steam turbine driven alternators in the world, as well as being the first of the barrel type rotary design. Results gained from the turbines influenced the Cunard Steamship Company to install steam turbines on the Mauretania
. The turbines drove 6,000 V three-phase alternator
s, supplying current to motor-generators and transformers in the substations attached to the distribution network. The motor-generators in the substations provided DC from the supplied AC and the transformers stepped-down the 6,000 V supply to 200 V for lighting use and 400 V for industrial use.
By 1904, there were a total of nine different generating sets operating at the power station. Sets No. 1 and 2 were DC generators driven by 300 HP two-crank compound engines running at 380 RPM, power from which supplied DC network in Wallsend and Walker. Set No. 3 was a 50 kW set used for exciting purposes only. Sets No. 4 and 5 were used as balancers and motor generators and had a combined capacity of 150 kW. Sets No. 6, 7, 8 and 9 were each driven by 1,400 HP engines and in turn each drove a 750 kW alternator. The two Parsons sets worked alongside these.
By 1912, the NESCo system, which the station was part of, was the largest integrated power system in Europe
.
had not yet been invented and a large but inefficient brick-built cooling pond was used.
. Fitted entirely with steam turbine generating equipment, Carville quickly superseded Neptune Bank. Neptune Bank power station was largely out of use by 1909 after the extension of the Carville station, along with the opening of Dunston Power Station
. It was decommissioned in 1915 and the site was used by NESCo as a storage facility.
Fossil fuel power plant
A fossil-fuel power station is a power station that burns fossil fuels such as coal, natural gas or petroleum to produce electricity. Central station fossil-fuel power plants are designed on a large scale for continuous operation...
situated on the River Tyne
River Tyne
The River Tyne is a river in North East England in Great Britain. It is formed by the confluence of two rivers: the North Tyne and the South Tyne. These two rivers converge at Warden Rock near Hexham in Northumberland at a place dubbed 'The Meeting of the Waters'.The North Tyne rises on the...
at Wallsend
Wallsend
Wallsend is an area in North Tyneside, Tyne and Wear, England. Wallsend derives its name as the location of the end of Hadrian's Wall. It has a population of 42,842.-Romans:...
near Newcastle upon Tyne
Newcastle upon Tyne
Newcastle upon Tyne is a city and metropolitan borough of Tyne and Wear, in North East England. Historically a part of Northumberland, it is situated on the north bank of the River Tyne...
. Commissioned in 1901 by the Newcastle upon Tyne Electric Supply Company, the station was the first in the world to provide electricity for purposes other than domestic and street lighting. It was also the first in the world to generate electricity using three-phase
Three-phase
In electrical engineering, three-phase electric power systems have at least three conductors carrying voltage waveforms that are radians offset in time...
electrical power distribution at a voltage of 5,500 Volts.
The station had an initial generating capacity of 2,800 kW, which was increased to 3,000 kW a year after the station opened, with the introduction of two 1,500 kW Parsons
C. A. Parsons and Company
C. A. Parsons and Company was a British engineering firm which was once one of the largest employers on Tyneside.-History:The Company was founded by Charles Algernon Parsons in 1889 to produce turbo-generators, his own invention. At the beginning of the Twentieth Century, the company was producing...
turbo alternators, the largest ever built at that time. The station closed in 1915, following the completion of an extension to Carville Power Station
Carville Power Station
Carville Power Station was a coal-fired power station situated in Wallsend near Newcastle upon Tyne, in North East England. Two power stations stood on the site over the years; Carville A Power Station, the first station on the site, and Carville B Power Station...
and the opening of Dunston Power Station
Dunston Power Station
Dunston Power Station refers to a pair of adjacent coal-fired power stations in the North East of England, now demolished. They were built on the south bank of the River Tyne, in the western outskirts of Dunston in Gateshead. The two stations were built on a site which is now occupied by the...
.
History
At the beginning of the twentieth century, the use of electricity for general purposes began to be considered, and the Newcastle upon Tyne Electric Supply Company (NESCo) realised the potential it offered for development. In June 1899, the Walker and Wallsend Union Gas Company (WWUGC) acquired Parliamentary powers for the supply of electricity to the area around WallsendWallsend
Wallsend is an area in North Tyneside, Tyne and Wear, England. Wallsend derives its name as the location of the end of Hadrian's Wall. It has a population of 42,842.-Romans:...
. In January 1900 they erected Neptune Bank power station near the North Eastern Railway's
North Eastern Railway (UK)
The North Eastern Railway , was an English railway company. It was incorporated in 1854, when four existing companies were combined, and was absorbed into the London and North Eastern Railway at the Grouping in 1923...
(NER) North Tyneside Loop
North Tyneside Loop
The North Tyneside Loop refers to the railway lines in North Tyneside from Newcastle upon Tyne via Wallsend, North Shields, Whitley Bay, Backworth, Benton and South Gosforth back to Newcastle...
, midway between Wallsend and Walker
Walker, Newcastle upon Tyne
Walker is a residential suburb and electoral ward just east of the centre of Newcastle upon Tyne, England. Walker's name is a hybrid of Old English and Viking Norse, "Wall-kjerr", where "kjerr" is Norse for "marshy woodland"...
. In October 1900, NESCo acquired the entire power station from the WWUGC, with the exception of the cables and sub-station machinery installed for the purpose of supplying the works in the area in which the WWUGC had obtained Parliamentary powers. the WWUGC continued to buy electricity in bulk from NESCo.
The station was officially opened on 18 June 1901 by Lord Kelvin. At the opening he said:
"We have seen at work what many have not seen before - a system realised in which a central station generates power by steam engines and delivers electricity to consumers at distances varying, I think, from a quarter of a mile to over three and a half miles... A larger station is in prospect, larger work is contemplated. This admirable but comparatively small station at Neptune Bank makes a splendid beginning... What I am seeing today is the dream of my life realised. I do not know the limits of electricity, but it will go beyond anything we can conceive of today."
The station was the first power station to generate electricity for industrial purposes, rather than just for domestic and street lighting, and this led to a rapid expansion of NESCo.
NESCo laid high-tension cables from the power station to various substations
Electrical substation
A substation is a part of an electrical generation, transmission, and distribution system. Substations transform voltage from high to low, or the reverse, or perform any of several other important functions...
in Newcastle upon Tyne. The company changed their system of supply, from 2,000 Volt
Volt
The volt is the SI derived unit for electric potential, electric potential difference, and electromotive force. The volt is named in honor of the Italian physicist Alessandro Volta , who invented the voltaic pile, possibly the first chemical battery.- Definition :A single volt is defined as the...
(V) single phase alternating current which had been used to distribute power from their Pandon Dene Power Station
Pandon Dene Power Station
Pandon Dene Power Station was an early coal-fired power station situated on the Pandon Dene, to the east of Newcastle upon Tyne.-History:At the outset of their operations in 1889, the Newcastle-upon-Tyne Electric Supply Company were confined to operating within the eastern half of Newcastle...
, to three phase current at 5,500 V. This made NESCo the first statutory authority to supply in such a way. The scientific journal
Scientific journal
In academic publishing, a scientific journal is a periodical publication intended to further the progress of science, usually by reporting new research. There are thousands of scientific journals in publication, and many more have been published at various points in the past...
, The Electrician
The Electrician
The Electrician was a scientific journal of electromagnetics published by Williams & Co.-External links:*...
congradutalted NESCo in June 1901, stating that "not merely electric power supply on Tyneside was formally inaugurated last Tuesday, but the era of electric power utilisation all over the kingdom."
A year after the station came into operation, NESCo's original power station at Pandon Dene was closed and converted into a substation. The Pandon Dene station had originally supplied Newcastle city centre with electricity, but the new Neptune Bank station took over this supply, transmitting using high voltage cables laid in ducts, rendering the older station obsolete.
Design and specification
The station was the first major design project of Charles Merz, of the Merz & McLellanMerz & McLellan
Merz and McLellan was a leading British electrical engineering consultancy based in Newcastle.-History:The firm was founded by Charles Merz and William McLellan in Newcastle upon Tyne in 1902 when McLellan joined Merz's existing firm established in 1899...
consulting partnership, and the first power station Merz & McLellan designed in the Newcastle area.
The station's buildings were built from corrugated iron, and the boiler house adjoined the engine room on its south facing side. Each of these two buildings measured 100 feet (30.5 m) by 52 feet (15.8 m). To the north east of the main station buildings lay the station's cooling pond
Cooling pond
A cooling pond is a man-made body of water primarily formed for the purpose of supplying cooling water to a nearby power plant or industrial facility such as a petroleum refinery, pulp and paper mill, chemical plant, steel mill or smelter...
, where the station's circulating water was cooled by means of spray nozzles, capable of cooling 4,000,000 pounds of water per hour. This cooling system was adopted as it was cheaper than pumping water up from the nearby River Tyne
River Tyne
The River Tyne is a river in North East England in Great Britain. It is formed by the confluence of two rivers: the North Tyne and the South Tyne. These two rivers converge at Warden Rock near Hexham in Northumberland at a place dubbed 'The Meeting of the Waters'.The North Tyne rises on the...
which was 60 feet (18.3 m) below the level of the station. The station was also equipped with a testing pond, capable of absorbing up to 1,500 kW.
Coal was delivered to the station via the NER's North Tyneside Loop. An electric locomotive was used to convey the coal from the railway to the boiler house. The station's boiler house was equipped with four batteries of two Babcock & Wilcox boilers. Each boiler had a capacity of 1,000 horsepower and a working pressure of 200 psi. Each was fitted with superheaters and mechanical stokers and had a heating surface of 4,020 square feet, with a superheat of 100 - 120 degrees Farenheit. Each could evaporate 14,000 pounds of water per hour. Ash waste from the boilers was discharged into trucks.
The station initially generated electricity using four 700 kilowatt (kW) alternator
Alternator
An alternator is an electromechanical device that converts mechanical energy to electrical energy in the form of alternating current.Most alternators use a rotating magnetic field but linear alternators are occasionally used...
s, each driven by a slow-speed triple expansion marine type reciprocating engine
Reciprocating engine
A reciprocating engine, also often known as a piston engine, is a heat engine that uses one or more reciprocating pistons to convert pressure into a rotating motion. This article describes the common features of all types...
, built by Wigham Richardson & Co.
John Wigham Richardson
John Wigham Richardson was one of the great figures of British industrial life, and a leading shipbuilder on Tyneside during the late 19th and early 20th century.-Career:...
and the Wallsend Slipway & Engineering Company
Wallsend Slipway & Engineering Company
Wallsend Slipway & Engineering Company Ltd was formerly an independent company, located on the River Tyne at Point Pleasant, near Wallsend, Tyne & Wear, around a mile downstream from the Swan Hunter shipyard, with which it later merged.-History:...
. The station was the first in the world to generate electricity using three-phase
Three-phase
In electrical engineering, three-phase electric power systems have at least three conductors carrying voltage waveforms that are radians offset in time...
electrical power distribution at a voltage of 5,500 V, and the first to generate direct current at different voltages. After the opening of Carville Power Station
Carville Power Station
Carville Power Station was a coal-fired power station situated in Wallsend near Newcastle upon Tyne, in North East England. Two power stations stood on the site over the years; Carville A Power Station, the first station on the site, and Carville B Power Station...
in 1904, the voltage of transmission was raised to 6,000 V.
In 1902, two 1,500-kW Parsons
C. A. Parsons and Company
C. A. Parsons and Company was a British engineering firm which was once one of the largest employers on Tyneside.-History:The Company was founded by Charles Algernon Parsons in 1889 to produce turbo-generators, his own invention. At the beginning of the Twentieth Century, the company was producing...
steam turbine
Steam turbine
A steam turbine is a mechanical device that extracts thermal energy from pressurized steam, and converts it into rotary motion. Its modern manifestation was invented by Sir Charles Parsons in 1884....
driven turbo-alternators were added to the initial equipment at the station. At the time, these were the largest three-phase steam turbine driven alternators in the world, as well as being the first of the barrel type rotary design. Results gained from the turbines influenced the Cunard Steamship Company to install steam turbines on the Mauretania
RMS Mauretania (1906)
RMS Mauretania was an ocean liner designed by Leonard Peskett and built by Swan, Hunter & Wigham Richardson at Wallsend, Tyne and Wear for the British Cunard Line, and launched on 20 September 1906. At the time, she was the largest and fastest ship in the world. Mauretania became a favourite among...
. The turbines drove 6,000 V three-phase alternator
Alternator
An alternator is an electromechanical device that converts mechanical energy to electrical energy in the form of alternating current.Most alternators use a rotating magnetic field but linear alternators are occasionally used...
s, supplying current to motor-generators and transformers in the substations attached to the distribution network. The motor-generators in the substations provided DC from the supplied AC and the transformers stepped-down the 6,000 V supply to 200 V for lighting use and 400 V for industrial use.
By 1904, there were a total of nine different generating sets operating at the power station. Sets No. 1 and 2 were DC generators driven by 300 HP two-crank compound engines running at 380 RPM, power from which supplied DC network in Wallsend and Walker. Set No. 3 was a 50 kW set used for exciting purposes only. Sets No. 4 and 5 were used as balancers and motor generators and had a combined capacity of 150 kW. Sets No. 6, 7, 8 and 9 were each driven by 1,400 HP engines and in turn each drove a 750 kW alternator. The two Parsons sets worked alongside these.
By 1912, the NESCo system, which the station was part of, was the largest integrated power system in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
.
Operations
Coal was delivered to Neptune Bank from the Riverside Branch of the North Eastern Railway at Tyne Pontoons signal box, about halfway between Walker and Carville stations. It was taken to the station's railway sidings using a small electric locomotive and unloaded in front of the boiler house. It was then hand-loaded into automatic stokers which fired the boilers. Removal of ash from the boilers was performed by machine.The station was badly located for sources of cooling and boiler water - it was some 60 feet above the level of the nearby River Tyne, which was also 200 feet away. The concept of a cooling towerCooling tower
Cooling towers are heat removal devices used to transfer process waste heat to the atmosphere. Cooling towers may either use the evaporation of water to remove process heat and cool the working fluid to near the wet-bulb air temperature or in the case of closed circuit dry cooling towers rely...
had not yet been invented and a large but inefficient brick-built cooling pond was used.
Closure
Following Neptune Bank's commissioning there was a rapid increase in the demand for electricity, which couldn't be met by the station, and so in 1904 NESCo commissioned Carville Power StationCarville Power Station
Carville Power Station was a coal-fired power station situated in Wallsend near Newcastle upon Tyne, in North East England. Two power stations stood on the site over the years; Carville A Power Station, the first station on the site, and Carville B Power Station...
. Fitted entirely with steam turbine generating equipment, Carville quickly superseded Neptune Bank. Neptune Bank power station was largely out of use by 1909 after the extension of the Carville station, along with the opening of Dunston Power Station
Dunston Power Station
Dunston Power Station refers to a pair of adjacent coal-fired power stations in the North East of England, now demolished. They were built on the south bank of the River Tyne, in the western outskirts of Dunston in Gateshead. The two stations were built on a site which is now occupied by the...
. It was decommissioned in 1915 and the site was used by NESCo as a storage facility.