Hackney Power Station

Hackney Power Station (also known as Millfields Power Station or Millfields Electricity Generating Station)^[1] was a coal-fired power station situated at Lea Bridge on the River Lee Navigation in London. It was commissioned in 1901 and decommissioned in 1976.

Hackney Power Station
Country	England
Location	Hackney, London
Coordinates	51.55870°N 0.04010°W / 51.55870; -0.04010
Status	Decommissioned and demolished
Commission date	A 1901, B 1954
Decommission date	A 1969, B 1976
Owner	As operator
Operators	Borough of Hackney (1901–1948) British Electricity Authority (1948–1955) Central Electricity Authority (1955–1957) Central Electricity Generating Board (1958–1976)
Thermal power station
Primary fuel	Coal
Secondary fuel	Refuse
Power generation
Units operational	A: 2 × 30 MW, B: 2 × 33 MW and 1 × 30 MW
Units decommissioned	All
Nameplate capacity	92 MW
Annual net output	(See graphs below)
External links
Commons	Related media on Commons
grid reference TQ359862

History

A turbine in the A station, 1932

The "A" station, opened in 1901, was built by the Borough of Hackney. Upon nationalisation of the electricity industry in 1948, the power station passed to the British Electricity Authority.^[2] It originally burned local refuse as well as coal. The A station closed in 1969.

Following nationalisation, a "B" station was built, coming to use between 1954 and 1957.^[3] The B station was itself closed on 25 October 1976 with a generating capacity of 92 MW.^[4] It has been partially demolished, a sub-station remaining in part of the original buildings.

Coal was originally shipped up the Navigation from the Thames. However, in later years, as lighterage declined, up to thirty lorries per day transported coal to the station;^[5] the station was isolated from the railway system by the Lea and Hackney Marshes.

In 1967 it was reported by a resident that coal dust from lorries delivering coal to Hackney power station "lies like a black carpet in the front of our houses". A Ministry of Transport spokesman said that delivering coal to the station by road instead of barges saved £33,450 a year.^[6]

Hackney Power Station's chimney, since demolished

Parts of the site and the land immediately adjacent to it now serve as the Hackney Council Millfields Waste Depot and electricity substations operated by UK Power Networks and National Grid, including 66kV, 132kV, 275kV and 400kV substations.^[7][8]

The power station and its chimney features in a 1977 silent short film by experimental filmmaker John Smith titled Hackney Marshes - November 4th 1977.^[9]

View of Hackney Power Station and the Lee Navigation in 1973

Specification

New generating equipment was added as the demand for electricity increased. The generating capacity, maximum load, and electricity generated and sold was as follows:^[10][11]

Hackney A generating capacity, load and electricity produced and sold, 1903–46

Year	Generating capacity, MW	Maximum load, MW	Electricity generated, GWh	Electricity sold, GWh
1903/4	3.37	1.48	2.55	2.18
1912/3	4.80	4.292	8.999	7.812
1918/9	12.200	7.410	18.195	16.217
1919/20	18.200	9.636	17.341	14.774
1923/4	28.200	12.600	26.393	22.199
1936/7	61.000	31.500	177.996	71.529
1946		11.540	209.055	197.733

In 1903, the plant consisted of two Willans steam engines each coupled to Johnson-Lundell generators of 150kW each, two Belliss steam engines each coupled to two Johnson-Lundell generators of 300kW and one Belliss steam engine coupled to a British Westinghouse generator of 1,500 kW. The station was fueled by both coal and municipal waste (the mechanism for the latter known as a "refuse destructor"). ^[12] A second 1,500-Kw Westinghouse dynamo driven by a Belliss triple-expansion vertical steam engine was added; by 1914, a 3,000 kW Willans & Robinson turbo alternator had been installed.^[13] In 1918, a 6,000 kW Parson turbo alternator set was added, running at 3000 rpm - high for the time at that size.^[14]

The stations total capacity had now risen to 28,200 kW consisting of three Belliss and two Willans triple expansion steam engines totalling 4,200 kW. Then the turbine room contained the three existing sets (i) 3,000-KW Willans-G.E.C (1914), (ii) 5,000 kW Parsons (1914) and (iii) 6,000 kW Parsons (1917) Parson to which in October 1923 a new 10,000 kW 6,600 V 3 phase turbine set supplied by Parsons was bought into use. This was powered from four Babcock & Wilcox boilers producing 33,000 Ib. per hour.^[15] The station generated 21.465 GWh of electricity, in 1923 some of this was used in the plant, the total amount sold was 18.582 GWh. The revenue from sales of current was £151,291, this gave a surplus of revenue over expenses of £86,419.^[16]

View of Hackney Power Station, 1973

The station was expanded again in 1932 with new boiler plant consisting of three Simon-Carves Ltd multi-drum units each evaporating 125,000 lb/hr. These boilers were fitted with George Kent Ltd automatic boilers controls and was the first UK power station to utilise such an arrangement. These boilers fed a Parsons 30,000 kW turbo alternator. This was the fourth Parsons set following on from a 7,500 kW (1918), 10,000 kW (1920), a 10,000 kW (1925). The efficiency being progressively improved from the first set consuming 14,540 BTU / kWh (equivalent to a thermal efficiency for the whole set of 23.47%) to 11,080 BTU / kWh ( thermal efficiency of 30.79%) for the latest set. ^[17]

By 1963-64, the A station had 2 × 30 MW generators.^[18] The steam capacity of the boilers was 1,014,000 lb/hr (127.8 kg/s). Steam conditions at the turbine stop valves was 200/370 psi (13.8/25.5 bar) and 282/416 °C. The boilers were chain grate stoked. In 1963-64 the overall thermal efficiency of the A station was 14.55 per cent.^[18]

By 1963-64, the B station had 2 × 33 MW Parsons and 1 × 30 MW Parsons generators.^[19] There were 3 × 300,000 lb/hr (37.8 kg/s)^[20] Simon-Carves boilers giving a total steam capacity of 930,000 lb/hr (117.2 kg/s). Steam conditions at the turbine stop valves was 600 psi (41.4 bar) and 464 °C. The boilers used pulverised fuel. In 1963-64 the overall thermal efficiency of the A station was 25.48 per cent.^[18] There was a single wood cooling tower with a capacity of 2.25 million gallons per hour (2.84 m³/s), make-up water was from the River Lea.^[19]

Electricity output from Hackney power station was as follows.^{[18][21][19][22][11]}

Hackney A annual electricity output GWh.

Hackney B annual electricity output GWh.