Accrington power station was a coal and refuse fired

electricity Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter that has a property of electric charge. Electricity is related to magnetism, both being part of the phenomenon of electromagnetism, as described ...

generating station located in the centre of

Accrington Accrington is a town in the Hyndburn borough of Lancashire, England. It lies about east of Blackburn, west of Burnley, east of Preston, north of Manchester and is situated on the culverted River Hyndburn. Commonly abbreviated by locals to ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...

. The station supplied electricity to Accrington and to

Haslingden Haslingden is a town in Rossendale, Lancashire, England. It is north of Manchester. The name means 'valley of the hazels' or 'valley growing with hazels'. At the time of the 2011 census the town (including Helmshore) had a population of 15,96 ...

and the Altham and

Clayton-le-Moors Clayton-le-Moors is an industrial town in the borough of Hyndburn in the county of Lancashire, England. located two miles north of Accrington. The town has a population of 8,522 according to the 2011 census. To the west lies Rishton, to the no ...

areas between 1900 and 1958.

History

Accrington Corporation sought, and obtained, from the

Board of Trade The Board of Trade is a British government body concerned with commerce and industry, currently within the Department for International Trade. Its full title is The Lords of the Committee of the Privy Council appointed for the consideration of ...

a Provisional Order to generate and supply

to the town in 1890. The Order was confirmed by Parliament in the ''Electric Lighting Orders Confirmation (No.4) Act 1890'' (53 & 54 Vict. c. clxxxix). Initially little progress was made on the construction of the station, although by 1898 it was reported that tenders for the plant had been received and that construction was about to start. The electricity generating works were built on Argyle Street (53°45'24.1"N 2°22'11.9"W) immediately west of the existing gas works. Accrington power station opened on 9 November 1900. The station was partly operated by burning domestic and commercial refuse. The original generating plant comprised five engines with a total capacity of 970 brake horse power (723 kW) and five dynamos with a capacity of 580 kW. The engines were powered by steam at 185

psi Psi, PSI or Ψ may refer to: Alphabetic letters * Psi (Greek) (Ψ, ψ), the 23rd letter of the Greek alphabet * Psi (Cyrillic) (Ѱ, ѱ), letter of the early Cyrillic alphabet, adopted from Greek Arts and entertainment * "Psi" as an abbreviatio ...

(12.76

bar Bar or BAR may refer to: Food and drink * Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages * Candy bar * Chocolate bar Science and technology * Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment * Bar (tropical cyclone), a layer of cloud * Bar (u ...

). To maintain electricity supply at times of high demand chloride batteries with a total capacity of 750 amp hours are installed. The brick chimney was 240 feet tall (73.2 metres). In 1903 a total of 280 MWh of electricity was supplied to 300 customers.

Refuse destructor

The refuse destructor was built at the same time as, and was an integral part of, the power station. The destructor was capable of handling 60 tonnes per day of refuse. Refuse was burned in six top-feed Horsfall cells with a total grate area of 180 square feet (16.7 square metres). Lancashire boilers – 7½ by 30 ft (2.3 by 9.1 m) – were located at the back of each cell with a heating surface area of 1,000 square feet (93 m²) each. After combustion clinker and ash made up about 35.5 percent by weight of the refuse burned. In 1904 the clinker was used in the filter beds at the municipal sewage works and some had been sold to another municipal sewage works. The steam from the refuse boilers made up about one fifth of the steam required to drive the generating engines. The cost of the destructor plant and chimney was £8,000.

Trams

Accrington tramways had operated a tram system since 1886. In 1907, Accrington Corporation had formed

Accrington Corporation Tramways Accrington Corporation Tramways operated a passenger tramway service in Accrington between 1907 and 1932. History Tramway services in Accrington had been provided by the Accrington Corporation Steam Tramways Company since 1886. Despite the na ...

and it purchased the tram system. It was converted to electric traction supplied from Accrington power station. The tramway system operated until 1932 when it was closed.

Supply growth

The corporation made an agreement with the Haslingden Corporation to supply it with electricity in bulk. By 1912 the Corporation planned to supply current to the Altham and Clayton-le-Moors areas. It proposed that the latter supply would require a high tension feeder cable (£1,900); a high tension switchboard (£600); and low tension distributors (£3,250); and an allowance for future extensions of £1,000; a total cost of £6,750. The Altham Colliery Company applied to the Corporation for a supply of electricity but suitable terms could not be found. To meet the greater requirements for electricity the Corporation proposed to install

gas engine A gas engine is an internal combustion engine that runs on a gaseous fuel, such as coal gas, producer gas, biogas, landfill gas or natural gas. In the United Kingdom, the term is unambiguous. In the United States, due to the widespread use of ...

s to generate electricity rather than using conventional

steam turbine A steam turbine is a machine that extracts thermal energy from pressurized steam and uses it to do mechanical work on a rotating output shaft. Its modern manifestation was invented by Charles Parsons in 1884. Fabrication of a modern steam turbin ...

s. The Corporation assumed an installed capacity of 2,000 brake horse power (1,491 kW) and a load factor of 60 percent, it was estimated that such a scheme would realise a saving of £1,000 per year compared to conventional steam generation. Furthermore, that sale of gas generating by-products would realise £1,250 per year. The capital cost of the new plant was estimated to be £27,000. In 1912 the Power Gas Corporation of Stockton-on-Tees installed a 2,000 horse power (1,491 kW) Mond Ammonia recovery gas plant to drive two 1,000 horse power (746 kW) gas engines.

Specification

In 1923 the plant installed at Accrington power station comprised boilers producing 148,000 lb/hr (18.65 kg/s) of steam, and the following generating plant: * 1 × 2,000 kW

driving an AC alternator * 1 × 5,000 kW

driving an AC alternator * 1 × 6,000 kW

driving an AC alternator * 3 × 750 kW

driving AC alternators * 1 × 700 kW

driving a DC generator Electricity was supplied as 230 & 400 Volt 3-phase AC; 230 & 460 Volt DC; and 550 Volt DC for

traction current A railway electrification system supplies electric power to railway trains and trams without an on-board prime mover or local fuel supply. Electric railways use either electric locomotives (hauling passengers or freight in separate cars), ele ...

for the tram system.

Operation

The station generated 12.681 GWh in 1923, after use on works and losses, this was distributed to the following users: The maximum load on the system inn 1923 was 5,300 kW and there was a connected load of 1,384 kW. The revenue from the sale of current amounted to £81,445. The surplus of revenue over expenses for the Corporation was £45,790. The nearby

Padiham power station Padiham Power Station was a coal-fired power station in Padiham, east Lancashire, England, which began operation in 1926 and generated power from 1927 until it was closed in 1993. Location The plant was located on the north bank of the River ...

was commissioned in January 1927. An 11,000 Volt main was installed between Padiham and

power stations. This allowed the town to obtain an electricity supply from Padiham. In 1946 Accrington power station sent out 27.566 GWh, had a load factor of 21.6 per cent, and a thermal efficiency of 12.33 per cent.Electricity Commission, ''Generation of Electricity in Great Britain 1946''.

Nationalisation

Upon

nationalisation Nationalization (nationalisation in British English) is the process of transforming privately-owned assets into public assets by bringing them under the public ownership of a national government or state. Nationalization usually refers to pri ...

of the British electricity supply industry in 1948 the ownership of

power station was vested in the

British Electricity Authority The British Electricity Authority (BEA) was established as the central British electricity authority in 1948 under the nationalisation of Great Britain's electricity supply industry enacted by the Electricity Act 1947. The BEA was responsible for ...

, and subsequently the

Central Electricity Authority The Central Electricity Authority (CEA) was a body that managed and operated the electricity supply industry in England and Wales between 1 April 1955 and 31 December 1957. The CEA replaced the earlier British Electricity Authority (BEA) as a r ...

and the

Central Electricity Generating Board The Central Electricity Generating Board (CEGB) was responsible for electricity generation, transmission and bulk sales in England and Wales from 1958 until privatisation of the electricity industry in the 1990s. It was established on 1 Januar ...

(CEGB). At the same time the electricity distribution and sales responsibilities of the Accrington electricity undertaking were transferred to the North Western Electricity Board (NORWEB).

Final years

The commissioning of the modern and efficient

Huncoat power station Huncoat Power Station was located in Huncoat near Accrington, Lancashire. It was a 150 MW, coal-fired, electricity generating station in operation from 1952 to 1984. It has since been demolished. Huncoat power station replaced the earlier Accringt ...

from 1952 made the old and low

thermal efficiency In thermodynamics, the thermal efficiency (\eta_) is a dimensionless performance measure of a device that uses thermal energy, such as an internal combustion engine, steam turbine, steam engine, boiler, furnace, refrigerator, ACs etc. For a he ...

power station less economic to run. In its final years the operation of Accrington power station was as follows.

Closure

Accrington power station was closed in 1958.

References

{{North West Power Stations Former power stations in England Coal-fired power stations in England Demolished power stations in the United Kingdom Accrington