Brimsdown Power Station was a

coal-fired power station A coal-fired power station or coal power plant is a thermal power station which burns coal to generate electricity. Worldwide, there are about 8,500 coal-fired power stations totaling over 2,000 gigawatts Nameplate capacity, capacity. They ...

on the

Lee Navigation The Lee Navigation is a canalised river incorporating the River Lea (also called the River Lee along the sections that are navigable). It flows from Hertford Castle Weir to the River Thames at Bow Creek; its first lock is Hertford Lock and its ...

Brimsdown Brimsdown is a neighbourhood of eastern Enfield in the London Borough of Enfield, north London, on the west side of the mid-to-lower Lea Valley. Geography The east of Brimsdown, that is, east of the eastern Lea Valley line is one of the borough ...

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, historic county in South East England, southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the Ceremonial counties of ...

. The station had seven cooling towers which were visible from a wide area.

History

The first station was brought into operation by the ''North Metropolitan Electric Power Supply Co.'' between 1904 and 1907, before officially opening in 1907. It was used primarily to supply the local tramways. The station was extended between 1924 and 1955, supplying power to the wider area of Enfield and Essex. Brimsdown Power Station was the only known British example of the Loeffler boiler system. It was a system that enjoyed a brief vogue in the 1930s, mainly in Europe. It overcame metallurgical and feedwater quality problems but rapid advances rendered it unnecessary quite quickly. The Parsons 25 MW turbo-alternator commissioned in 1928 was the first machine in the UK to generate direct at 33 kV. Coal was supplied by

barge Barge nowadays generally refers to a flat-bottomed inland waterway vessel which does not have its own means of mechanical propulsion. The first modern barges were pulled by tugs, but nowadays most are pushed by pusher boats, or other vessels ...

or by rail. In 1948 Britain's electricity supply industry was nationalised under the

Electricity Act 1947 The Electricity Act 1947 (10 & 11 Geo. 6. c. 54.) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which nationalised, or bought into state control, the electricity supply industry in Great Britain. It established a central authority called t ...

and Brimsdown Power Station became part of 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 ...

. The BEA was succeeded by 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 ...

in 1955 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 ...

in 1958. The CEGB decommissioned both stations in 1976.

Technical Specification

In 1959 the A station had two Loeffler boilers, steam capacity of the boilers was 330,000 lb/hr (41.6 kg/s) which supplied one 20 MW and one 31 MW Metropolitan Vickers turbo-alternators.''CEGB Statistical Yearbook'' (various dates). CEGB, London. The steam conditions at the turbine stop valve was 1900 psi (131 bar) and 499 °C. The overall thermal efficiency of the A station in 1963-64 was 20.16 per cent. In 1959 the B station had four Parsons 25 MW turbo-alternators and one Metropolitan Vickers 56.9 MW twin set. By 1963-64 the B station had 1 × 60.27 MW and 1 × 60 MW generators. The steam capacity of the associated boilers was 2,305,000 lb/hr (290.4 kg/s). Steam conditions at the 60.27 MW turbine stop valve was 315 / 900 psi (21.7 / 62.1 bar) and 360 / 399 / 482 °C. Steam conditions at the 60 MW turbine stop valve was 1900 psi (131 bar) and 499 °C. In 1963-64 the overall thermal efficiency of the B station was 23.17 per cent. There were 5 film cooling towers with a capacity of 6.6 million gallons per hour, and two natural draft reinforced concrete cooling towers each with a capacity of 1.56 million gallons per hour. Water was abstracted from the River Lea. Electricity output from Brimsdown A and B power stations during their final years of operation was as follows.Electricity Commission, ''Generation of Electricity in Great Britain year ended 31st December 1946''. London: HMSO, 1947. Brimsdown A annual electricity output GWh.Brimsdown B annual electricity output GWh.

Enfield Power Station

A 392MW gas-fired CCGT station was opened on a part of the original site in 1999, known as

Enfield Power Station Enfield Power Station is a 408 MW gas-fired station, opened on part of the original Brimsdown Power Station site on Brancroft Way at Brimsdown in the North London Borough of Enfield. It is near the A1055 and Lee Valley Park. History Known ...

or Enfield Energy Centre rather than Brimsdown Power Station. This has been operated by E.ON since 2005. The station ow owned and operated by Uniperunderwent a major upgrade in 2020/21 to increase output to 450MW.

SS ''Brimsdown''

In 1951 the

named a new "flat-iron"

coastal The coast, also known as the coastline or seashore, is defined as the area where land meets the ocean, or as a line that forms the boundary between the land and the coastline. The Earth has around of coastline. Coasts are important zones in n ...

collier SS ''Brimsdown'' after the station. However, at 1,837 gross register tonnage, length, beam and draught she was a large

coaster Coaster (stylized as COASTER) is a commuter rail service in the central and northern coastal regions of San Diego County, California, United States operated by the North County Transit District (NCTD). The commuter rail line features eight s ...

, not intended for service on the Lee Navigation.

References

{{London Powerstations Enfield, London Coal-fired power stations in England E.ON History of the London Borough of Enfield Buildings and structures in the London Borough of Enfield Energy infrastructure completed in 1907 Energy infrastructure completed in 1926 Energy infrastructure completed in 1955 1907 establishments in England 1976 disestablishments in England Former power stations in London Former power stations in England Demolished power stations in the United Kingdom Former coal-fired power stations in the United Kingdom