Thorpe Marsh Power Station
Encyclopedia
Thorpe Marsh Power Station was a 1 Gigawatt
(GW) (1000 MW) coal-fired power station
near Doncaster
in South Yorkshire
, England
.
set using an industrial static version of a Rolls-Royce Avon
aero engine with a capacity of 14.9 MW. On 7 January 1973 four workmen died. The CEGB
was put under investigation for breaches in safety provisions but they were found to have all died accidental deaths.
following privatisation in 1990. The station closed a few years later in 1994. The 45 acre (18.2 ha) site was acquired by Able UK
in 1995. Much of the station has been demolished and now only its six cooling towers (each 340 ft (103.6 m) high and 260 ft (79.2 m) in diameter at the base), two ash slurry hoppers, railway sidings and the station's large adjacent electricity switching station
still remain. The switching station was nearly flooded during the 2007 Yorkshire flood, which would have knocked the grid out according to news reports. The structures still stand now because it is feared that any explosion would cause the banks of the nearby canal to rupture. They also contain asbestos, which would contaminate land for miles around the site. There have been several controversial proposals for the site, including a car distribution depot and more recently a huge landfill site, neither of which have proven popular with the local residents.
The power station's cooling towers were featured in the final episode of the 1999 ITV
drama, The Last Train
, and in the first episode of the 2009 Channel 4
drama Red Riding
.
announced the approval of a 1500MW CCGT power station to be built at Thorpe Marsh by Acorn Power Developments
at a cost of £984 million .
Watt
The watt is a derived unit of power in the International System of Units , named after the Scottish engineer James Watt . The unit, defined as one joule per second, measures the rate of energy conversion.-Definition:...
(GW) (1000 MW) coal-fired power station
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...
near Doncaster
Doncaster
Doncaster is a town in South Yorkshire, England, and the principal settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Doncaster. The town is about from Sheffield and is popularly referred to as "Donny"...
in South Yorkshire
South Yorkshire
South Yorkshire is a metropolitan county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It has a population of 1.29 million. It consists of four metropolitan boroughs: Barnsley, Doncaster, Rotherham, and City of Sheffield...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
.
History
Construction of the station began in 1959, it being built as a prototype for all the large modern power stations in the UK. It was commissioned between 1963 and 1965. It contained 2 generating sets powered by coal, and had a gas turbineGas turbine
A gas turbine, also called a combustion turbine, is a type of internal combustion engine. It has an upstream rotating compressor coupled to a downstream turbine, and a combustion chamber in-between....
set using an industrial static version of a Rolls-Royce Avon
Rolls-Royce Avon
|-See also:-Bibliography:* Gunston, Bill. World Encyclopaedia of Aero Engines. Cambridge, England. Patrick Stephens Limited, 1989. ISBN 1-85260-163-9-External links:**** a 1955 Flight article on the development of the Avon...
aero engine with a capacity of 14.9 MW. On 7 January 1973 four workmen died. The CEGB
CEGB
The Central Electricity Generating Board was the cornerstone of the British electricity industry for almost 40 years; from 1957, to privatisation in the 1990s....
was put under investigation for breaches in safety provisions but they were found to have all died accidental deaths.
Post-Closure
Initially being operated by the Central Electricity Generating Board, the station was operated by National PowerNational Power
- History :National Power was formed following the privatisation of the UK electricity market in 1990. In England and Wales the Central Electricity Generating Board, which was responsible for the generation and transmission of electricity was split into three generating companies Powergen, National...
following privatisation in 1990. The station closed a few years later in 1994. The 45 acre (18.2 ha) site was acquired by Able UK
Able UK
Able UK is a British based company specialising in the rehabilitation and development of disused sites and facilities, demolition, site reclamation, re-mediation, regeneration and waste disposal...
in 1995. Much of the station has been demolished and now only its six cooling towers (each 340 ft (103.6 m) high and 260 ft (79.2 m) in diameter at the base), two ash slurry hoppers, railway sidings and the station's large adjacent electricity switching station
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...
still remain. The switching station was nearly flooded during the 2007 Yorkshire flood, which would have knocked the grid out according to news reports. The structures still stand now because it is feared that any explosion would cause the banks of the nearby canal to rupture. They also contain asbestos, which would contaminate land for miles around the site. There have been several controversial proposals for the site, including a car distribution depot and more recently a huge landfill site, neither of which have proven popular with the local residents.
The power station's cooling towers were featured in the final episode of the 1999 ITV
ITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
drama, The Last Train
The Last Train
The Last Train is a British six-part post-apocalyptic television drama serial first broadcast on the ITV network in 1999. It has since been repeated on ITV2 in 1999/2001 and on numerous occasions on the UK Sci-Fi Channel...
, and in the first episode of the 2009 Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
drama Red Riding
Red Riding
Red Riding is a television adaptation of English author David Peace's Red Riding Quartet. Published between 1999 and 2002, the quartet comprises the novels Nineteen Seventy-Four , Nineteen Seventy-Seven , Nineteen Eighty and Nineteen Eighty-Three...
.
New CCGT power station
On 31 October 2011, David CameronDavid Cameron
David William Donald Cameron is the current Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, First Lord of the Treasury, Minister for the Civil Service and Leader of the Conservative Party. Cameron represents Witney as its Member of Parliament ....
announced the approval of a 1500MW CCGT power station to be built at Thorpe Marsh by Acorn Power Developments
Acorn Energy
Acorn Energy is a NASDAQ-listed conglomerate investing in electricity generation and security- Major subsidiaries :DSIT, based in Israel, makes systems of sonar arrays that detect underwater activity; these are marketed by Acorn Energy for the protection of energy infrastructure facilities near...
at a cost of £984 million .
External links
- Thorpe Marsh Power Station - photos taken in 2006
- Thorpe Marsh Power Station - photos taken in 2010
- Parliament Discussion about the closure of Thorpe Marsh Power Station
- The cooling towers in the final episode of The Last Train
- A video exploring the inside of one of the cooling towers
- Archive photo collection of Thorpe Marsh Power Station on Flickr