Portishead Power Station refers to a series of two coal and oil-fired power stations which operated in the dock area of Portishead in Somerset,

South West England South West England, or the South West of England, is one of nine official regions of England. It consists of the counties of Bristol, Cornwall (including the Isles of Scilly), Dorset, Devon, Gloucestershire, Somerset and Wiltshire. Cities ...

, between 1929 and 1982. The original coal-fired Portishead power station was built by Bristol Corporation's Electricity Department and started generating in 1929. It was later expanded, and renamed Portishead A Power Station after Portishead B Power Station opened in the early 1950s. The newer station had one-third of its boilers oil-fired and two-thirds coal-fired. Both power stations were later converted to fully oil-fired operation. They closed in the late 1970s and early 1980s respectively, and the buildings and dock area were demolished and cleared. The site of the two power stations is now occupied by housing and the dock has become a

marina A marina (from Spanish , Portuguese and Italian : ''marina'', "coast" or "shore") is a dock or basin with moorings and supplies for yachts and small boats. A marina differs from a port in that a marina does not handle large passenger ships or ...

Portishead A power station

The first Portishead power station was built by

Bristol Corporation Bristol City Council, formerly known as The Bristol Corporation (and colloquially as "The Corporation"), is the local government authority governing the city of Bristol, England. Following the Norman conquest of England in 1066, successive royal ...

's Electricity Department, as their earlier power stations in Bristol – the first at Temple Back (opened 1891) and the second at the

Feeder Canal Feeder may refer to: Technology * Feeder (livestock equipment) * Feeder (beekeeping), any of several devices used in apiculture to supplement or replace natural food sources * Feeder (casting), another name for a riser, a reservoir built into ...

– became inadequate to meet demand.Winter (2005), pages 11–18. Construction at Portishead Dock started in 1926 and the station began generating electricity in 1929.Crowhurst (2001). Chapter 4: ''Portishead at Work''. With the creation of the

Central Electricity Board The United Kingdom Central Electricity Board (CEB) was established by the Electricity (Supply) Act 1926. It had the duty to supply electricity to authorised electricity undertakers, to determine which power stations would be 'selected' stations ...

(CEB) in 1926 and the establishment of the 132 kV National Grid, Portishead Power station, when it opened, remained under the day-to-day control of Bristol Corporation but was also subject to control by the CEB. It supplied power to the gridHannah (1979). and in 1931 its installed capacity was advertised as being in excess of .Winter (2005), "Bristol Corporation Electricity Department advertisement", Page 19. In 1937 its original six short chimney stacks were replaced by a high stack. In 1948, 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 fo ...

(BEA) was established, with the

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 p ...

of the UK's electricity supply industry, through the authority of 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 ...

. The BEA took over the operations of over 600 private power companies and local council power stations to form 14 area boards. Portishead Power Station ceased to be owned by Bristol Corporation and was now operated by the BEA. Generating capacity was increased in 1948 and a second stack was added. When building work on the new Portishead B Power Station began in 1949, the original station was renamed Portishead A. By 1949 the station could generate 240 MW of electricity. In 1972 it had three 55 MW and one 54 MW generating sets giving a capacity of 219 MW; the boilers delivered 1,600,000 lb/h (201.6 kg/s) of steam at 300 psi (20.7 bar) and 427°C. In that year the A station sent out 276.5 GWh of electricity (and the B station 1899 GWh).

Portishead B power station

The BEA started building the Portishead "B" power station in 1949 on part of the site of the

Great Western Railway The Great Western Railway (GWR) was a British railway company that linked London with the southwest, west and West Midlands of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, received its enabling Act of Parliament on 31 August 1835 and ran ...

's original

Portishead railway station Portishead railway station was opened by the Bristol and Portishead Pier and Railway in 1867; it was approximately from the town of Portishead, North Somerset, England. After the opening of the Pier in 1870, the line was extended with an add ...

, which was closed on 4 January 1954 and demolished.Butt (1995), Page 188.Crowhurst (2001). Chapter 3: ''The Railways''. A replacement railway station was opened some 400 metres nearer the centre of Portishead. The B power station was built with twelve steam boilers: eight coal-fired and four oil-fired.Winter (2005), page 110. The boilers were rated to deliver 456 kg/s of steam at 62.1

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 ( ...

and 482°C. There were six 60 MW turbo-alternators giving the station a gross rated output of 363 MW. The new power station began generating in 1955; however, in 1954 the

was replaced 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 ...

(CEA). The CEA itself was abolished in 1957 and both power stations came under the control of 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 Janu ...

(CEGB). The generating capacity, electricity output, load factor and

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 ...

were as shown in the table.GEGB ''Annual report and accounts'', various years The stations remained under the control of the CEGB until their closure and demolition.

Operations

The power stations took coal from the Somerset coalfield and from the South Wales coalfields. After 1966, Lower Writhlington and

Kilmersdon Kilmersdon is a village and civil parish on the north eastern slopes of the Mendip Hills in Somerset between the towns of Radstock and Frome. It is located on the B3139 between Wells and Trowbridge in Wiltshire. The settlement is recorded in Wi ...

pits – both served by the

Bristol and North Somerset Railway The Bristol and North Somerset Railway was a railway line in the West of England that connected Bristol with Radstock, through Pensford and further into northern Somerset, to allow access to the Somerset Coalfield. The line ran almost due so ...

– were the only remaining working pits in the Somerset coalfield, with Portishead power stations as their main customer. Coal transported to the power stations by train entered the site along the

Portishead Railway The Portishead Railway is a branch line railway running from Portishead in North Somerset to the main line immediately west of Bristol, England. It was constructed by the Bristol & Portishead Pier and Railway Company, but it was always operated ...

. Opened on 12 April 1867 as the Bristol and Portishead Pier and Railway Company, the line had been extended to the dock on 5 July 1879.Awdry (2000), Page 19.

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peopl ...

coal was also brought across the

Bristol Channel The Bristol Channel ( cy, Môr Hafren, literal translation: "Severn Sea") is a major inlet in the island of Great Britain, separating South Wales from Devon and Somerset in South West England. It extends from the lower estuary of the River Se ...

from the South Wales coalfield by a fleet of boats. The Dock Master reported that 2,000 tonne per day was imported from South Wales for the A station through Portishead Dock, and that this was expected to increase to about 5,000 tonne per day when the B station came into operation.Farr (1954), pages 45—46. Condensing water was taken from the Bristol Channel.Winter (2005).

Rundown

The CEGB fully converted the two power stations to burn oil after collieries in the Somerset coalfield closed. The two Radstock pits ceased production in September 1973 and the last trainload of coal arrived at the station on 16 November 1973. The price of oil rose steeply in the 1970s (see

1973 oil crisis The 1973 oil crisis or first oil crisis began in October 1973 when the members of the Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries (OAPEC), led by Saudi Arabia, proclaimed an oil embargo. The embargo was targeted at nations that had su ...

and 1979 oil crisis) and the two power stations were little used thereafter. By this time

Hinkley Point A nuclear power station Hinkley Point A nuclear power station is a Magnox nuclear power station undergoing decommissioning. It is located on a site in Somerset on the Bristol Channel coast, west of the River Parrett estuary. The ongoing decommissioning process is bei ...

and

Hinkley Point B nuclear power station Hinkley Point B nuclear power station is a nuclear power station near Bridgwater, Somerset, on the Bristol Channel coast of south west England. It was the first commercial Advanced Gas Cooled reactor to generate power to the National Grid i ...

had come into operation, reducing demand for electricity produced from burning coal.

Closure and demolition

Portishead A Power Station ceased generating electricity on 15 March 1976. By this time its generating capacity had fallen to 96 MW. The first of its two

chimneys A chimney is an architectural ventilation structure made of masonry, clay or metal that isolates hot toxic exhaust gases or smoke produced by a boiler, stove, furnace, incinerator, or fireplace from human living areas. Chimneys are typic ...

was demolished in September 1981 and the second in August 1982. The B Station closed in 1982. Its two chimneys were demolished in October 1992. An area between the site of the power stations and

Royal Portbury Dock The Royal Portbury Dock is part of the Port of Bristol, in England. It is situated near the village of Portbury on the southern side of the mouth of the River Avon, Bristol, Avon, where the river joins the Severn estuary — the Avonmouth ...

which was used to dump the waste from burning coal has been turned into a nature reserve known as

Portbury Ashlands Portbury Ashlands which is now known as Portbury Wharf Nature Reserve is a nature reserve between Portishead, Somerset, Portishead and the Royal Portbury Dock in Somerset, England. It was formed from the redevelopment of the area of Portishead fo ...

References

Notes

Sources

* * Butt, R.V.J., (1995. ''The Directory of Railway Stations''. Sparkford: Patrick Stephens Ltd. . * Crowhurst, Ken, (2001). ''Images of England: Portishead''. Stroud: Tempus Publishing. . * Farr, Grahame (1954). ''Somerset Harbours: including the Port of Bristol''. London: Christopher Johnson Publishers Ltd. * Hannah, Leslie, (1979). ''Electricity before Nationalisation: A Study of the Development of The Electricity Supply Industry in Britain to 1948''. London: Macmillan Press Ltd. . * Winter, Michael T., (2005). ''The Portishead Coal Boats: A History of Osborn & Wallis Ltd, Bristol''. Lydney: Black Dwarf Publications. . {{DEFAULTSORT:Portishead Power Station Coal-fired power stations in England Demolished power stations in the United Kingdom Buildings and structures in North Somerset Power stations in Somerset Portishead, Somerset 1929 establishments in England 1982 disestablishments in England