Brunswick Wharf Power Station (also known as Blackwall Power Station) was a coal- and oil-fired

power station A power station, also referred to as a power plant and sometimes generating station or generating plant, is an industrial facility for the generation of electric power. Power stations are generally connected to an electrical grid. Many ...

on the

River Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after the R ...

at Blackwall in London. The station was planned from 1939 by Poplar Borough Council but construction only started in 1947 after the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

. It was decommissioned in 1984, and the site was redeveloped.

History

The station was built in stages between 1947 and 1956 on the site of the former East India Export Dock, itself originally the Brunswick Dock of the

Blackwall Yard Blackwall Yard is a small body of water that used to be a shipyard on the River Thames in Blackwall, engaged in ship building and later ship repairs for over 350 years. The yard closed in 1987. History East India Company Blackwall was a sh ...

shipyard. The site was controversial due to both potential air pollution in a densely populated part of London, and to the implications of further concentrating generating capacity in an area that had been a strategic target in

The Blitz The Blitz was a German bombing campaign against the United Kingdom in 1940 and 1941, during the Second World War. The term was first used by the British press and originated from the term , the German word meaning 'lightning war'. The Germa ...

. The building was a monumental brick structure with fluted concrete chimneys, similar to Gilbert Scott's design for

Battersea Power Station Battersea Power Station is a decommissioned Grade II* listed coal-fired power station, located on the south bank of the River Thames, in Nine Elms, Battersea, in the London Borough of Wandsworth. It was built by the London Power Company (LPC) ...

. Its main building contractor was

Peter Lind & Company Peter Lind & Company is a building contractor with bases in Central London and Spalding in Lincolnshire, England. History The original company was founded in 1915 by Danish engineer Herman Peter Thygesen Lind (1890–1956). In 1980 the company, ...

with Redpath Brown & Company supplying the steelwork, Tileman and Company building the reinforced concrete chimneys and Marples, Ridgeway and Partners being the main civil engineering contractors.

Metropolitan-Vickers Metropolitan-Vickers, Metrovick, or Metrovicks, was a British heavy electrical engineering company of the early-to-mid 20th century formerly known as British Westinghouse. Highly diversified, it was particularly well known for its industrial el ...

supplied the six turbo-alternators and Clarke, Chapman & Company and

John Brown & Company John Brown and Company of Clydebank was a Scottish marine engineering and shipbuilding firm. It built many notable and world-famous ships including , , , , , and the ''Queen Elizabeth 2''. At its height, from 1900 to the 1950s, it was one of ...

supplied the 11 boilers. A new concrete wharf with three Stothert & Pitt luffing cranes was built to land coal brought by colliers. The first phase of the station was supposed to be commissioned in 1948 but in fact did not start supplying electricity until 1952. The station was officially opened by British Electricity Authority (BEA) chairman

Walter Citrine, 1st Baron Citrine Walter McLennan Citrine, 1st Baron Citrine, (22 August 1887 – 22 January 1983) was one of the leading British and international trade unionists of the twentieth century and a notable public figure. Yet, apart from his renowned guide to the co ...

in 1954 but was not completed until 1956. In 1957 the alternators were uprated to produce a total of 118 MW. The final configuration of the station was 4 x 55 MW generators and 2 x 60 MW hydrogen cooled generators. Eleven boilers were installed. The boilers were manufactured by Clarke, Chapman & Co. and by John Brown & Co. The maximum steam capacity of the boilers was 3,520,000 lb/hr (443 kg/s). Steam pressure and temperature at the turbine stop valves was 900 psi (62 bar) and 482 °C.''CEGB Statistical Yearbook'' (various dates). CEGB, London. In 1958 Brunswick Wharf was used in an experiment – Operation Chimney Plume – by the CEGB to determine whether power station flue-gas plumes penetrated fog layers. On 4 December 1958 an aircraft flew above the low lying fog (750–800 feet) over London. Chemical were added to the power station boilers to colour the flue-gas plumes. It was found that the hot flue-gas plumes rose through and clear of the fog layer. Whereas the 'washed' and therefore cooler plumes from

Battersea power station Battersea Power Station is a decommissioned Grade II* listed coal-fired power station, located on the south bank of the River Thames, in Nine Elms, Battersea, in the London Borough of Wandsworth. It was built by the London Power Company (LPC) ...

and Bankside power station were subsumed within the fog layer. The station was originally coal-fired, but the BEA's successor, 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 Janua ...

, had it converted to oil in 1970–71. The conversion to oil included the first solid state furnace controls in the UK, installed by Associated British Combustion, of Portchester UK. Associated British Combustion was subsequently in financial trouble and was acquired by

Combustion Engineering Combustion Engineering (C-E) was a multi-national American-based engineering firm that developed nuclear steam supply power systems in the United States. Originally headquartered in New York City, C-E moved its corporate offices to Stamford, Connec ...

of USA.

Electricity output

Electricity output from Brunswick Wharf power station over the period 1954-1984 was as follows. Brunswick Wharf annual electricity output GWh.

Closure

The CEGB planned to enlarge the station, but the 1973 oil crisis increased the price of oil, and the CEGB found it had surplus generating capacity. The CEGB therefore decommissioned the station in 1984 and sold it in 1987. The power station was demolished in 1988–89, with the exception of the switchgear house, which survived until the 1990s but was later redeveloped. Three blocks called Elektron Towers and a block called Switch House have been built on the site of the power station. The current site also contains the ''Brunswick Wharf Substation''.OpenStreetMap
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References

{{London Powerstations Coal-fired power stations in England Former buildings and structures in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets Former power stations in London Former power stations in England Demolished power stations in the United Kingdom Power stations on the River Thames Port of London