Barking Power Station refers to a series of power stations at various sites within the

London Borough of Barking and Dagenham The London Borough of Barking and Dagenham () is a London borough in East London. It lies around 9 miles (14.4 km) east of Central London. It is an Outer London borough and the south is within the London Riverside section of the Thames ...

in east London. The original power station site, of the coal-fired A, B and C stations, was at River Road,

Creekmouth Creekmouth is an area of Barking in east London, England. It is best known for its large industrial estate. The industrial area around River Road and Thames Road is one of the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham's largest employment areas. Cr ...

, on the north bank of the

River Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the The Isis, River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, se ...

. These stations were decommissioned by 1981 and were subsequently demolished. The later gas-fired power station (originally generally known as Barking Reach Power Station) was built further down the Thames near

Dagenham Dock Dagenham Dock is a place in the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham in London, England. It is located to the south of Dagenham and on the River Thames. It was once the site of a large coaling port and continues to be the location of a small t ...

in the early 1990s. The site of the former power stations is being redeveloped as

Barking Riverside Barking Riverside is a mixed-use development in the area of Barking, east London, England, within the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham. It is being built on land formerly occupied by Barking Power Station, adjacent to the River Thames, ...

History

Barking A power station

Prior to the construction of Barking A Power Station,

Barking Town Urban District Council Barking was a local government district, and later civil parish and borough, in southwest Essex, England from 1882 to 1965. It was known as Barking Town from 1882 to 1931. The district included the town of Barking, eastern Beckton and the southwe ...

operated its own small power station near its offices from 1897 until its closure in 1927. In 1920, the County of London Electric Supply Company applied for permission to build a power station at

in Barking capable of expansion to 600 MW. The Barking A Station had 8 C. A. Parsons turbo-generators (4 × 40 MW and 4 × 20 MW) and 22 boilers, plus 2 dedicated reheat boilers. The two 40 MW sets were cross-compound units and one was the first Parsons set with reheat. These were in two boiler houses, one being all chain grate boilers (6 Babcock & Wilcox and 6 Yarrow) and the other being all pulverised fuel boilers (I.C.L.). The maximum steam capacity of the A station boilers was 1,900,000 lb/hr (239 kg/s). Steam pressure and temperature at the turbine stop valves was 350 psi (24 bar) and 371 °C.''CEGB Statistical Yearbook'' (various years). CEGB, London. Barking Power Station was opened by King George V on 19 May 1925 and was brought into commercial operation on 1 January 1926. In 1927 it took over from the Barking Town Urban District Council station, providing a bulk electricity supply. When completed, the A station was the largest power station in Britain to have been built as a complete station at one time. The Yarrow boilers were scrapped in the early 1950s, their capacity being replaced by steam from the B station via a steam line and suitable regulating equipment. The pulverised fuel boilers were converted to oil firing around 1964. By 1964 there were 3 × 40 MW and 1 × 36.75 MW generators. One of the 40 MW machines was decommissioned in 1966. The A station was decommissioned in 1969. The site of the power station was chosen for easy delivery of coal from the Thames and by rail, as well as the abundant water supply and space on the site for expansion. A cable tunnel was constructed under the river to supply the south bank with electricity.

Barking B power station

Barking's original A station was extended by the building of the B station, which began to operate at full capacity in 1939. The capacity of the B Station was 303 MW with 4 × 75 MW B.T.H. turbo-generators plus a small house generator of 3.5 MW capacity. Steam conditions were 600 psig (41.4 bar) and . The B Station had 16 B&W chain grate boilers, each capable of producing 256,000 lbs steam per hour (32.3 kg/s). These were arranged in two boiler houses, with 8 boilers in each. The maximum total steam capacity of the B station boilers was 4,096,000 lb/hr (516 kg/s). The power station was transferred to the London Division 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 fo ...

upon nationalisation of the electricity industry in 1948. The B station closed on 15 March 1976, at which time its generating capacity was 144

megawatt The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of power or radiant flux in the International System of Units (SI), equal to 1 joule per second or 1 kg⋅m2⋅s−3. It is used to quantify the rate of energy transfer. The watt is named after James ...

Barking C power station

The

built a third station at Creekmouth, which was completed in 1954. The C Station had three B.T.H. 75 MW turbo-generators operating with steam conditions of 900 psig (62 bar) and . There were 6 B&W boilers, 5 being pulverised fuel and the sixth a cyclone furnace. The maximum steam capacity of the station boilers was 2,565,000 lb/hr (323 kg/s). The pulverised fuel boilers were converted to oil firing around 1960. The station was closed on 26 October 1981, at which time its generating capacity was 220 MW. All three stations have since been demolished.

Electricity output

Electricity output from Barking A, B & C power stations over the period 1950–1981 was as follows. Barking A annual electricity output GWh.Barking B annual electricity output GWh.Barking C annual electricity output GWh.

Barking Reach power station

The last station was at Chequers Lane at

, to the west of Dagenham Breach (pond) and the Ford motor works. The station was constructed between 1992 and 1995 and was the first major generating station to be built in London for many years. It was one of the largest independently owned generating plants in the UK, being capable of generating 1000 MW of electricity, which is about 2% of the peak electricity demand in England and Wales. The station used

Combined Cycle Gas Turbine A combined cycle power plant is an assembly of heat engines that work in tandem from the same source of heat, converting it into mechanical energy. On land, when used to make electricity the most common type is called a combined cycle gas turb ...

technology, with gas as its primary fuel. The station was owned by Barking Power Limited but was operated and managed by Thames Power Services. In July 2014 the operators announced their intention to close the power station within two years. Decommissioning of the power station started in 2018, the chimneys being demolished using explosives. In December 2018, the City of London acquired Barking Power Ltd along with the Barking Reach Power Station site. The 42-acre site was one of the potential options for the City Corporation's proposals to consolidate its three wholesale food markets of

Billingsgate Fish Market Billingsgate Fish Market is located in Canary Wharf in London. It is the United Kingdom's largest inland fish market. It takes its name from Billingsgate, a ward in the south-east corner of the City of London, where the riverside market was or ...

(currently in Poplar),

Smithfield Meat Market Smithfield, properly known as West Smithfield, is a district located in Central London, part of Farringdon Without, the most westerly ward of the City of London, England. Smithfield is home to a number of City institutions, such as St Bartho ...

(central London) and

New Spitalfields Market New Spitalfields Market is a fruit and vegetable market on a site in Leyton, London Borough of Waltham Forest in East London. The market is owned and administrated by the City of London Corporation. The market is Europe's leading horticultural m ...

(Leyton). In March 2021,

Barking and Dagenham Council Barking and Dagenham London Borough Council is the local authority for the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham in Greater London, England. It is a London borough council, one of 32 in London, the capital of the United Kingdom. It provides a b ...

gave planning permission for the

City of London Corporation The City of London Corporation, officially and legally the Mayor and Commonalty and Citizens of the City of London, is the municipal governing body of the City of London, the historic centre of London and the location of much of the United King ...

plans at the the Dagenham Dock site.

References

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