Bulls Bridge Power Station
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Bulls Bridge Power Station was a 280 MW open-cycle gas-turbine power station at Bull's Bridge,
Hayes Hayes may refer to: * Hayes (surname), including a list of people with the name ** Rutherford B. Hayes, 19th president of the United States * Hayes (given name) Businesses * Hayes Brake, an American designer and manufacturer of disc brakes * Ha ...
in west
London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
. It was decommissioned in 1993 and later demolished.


History

The station was built, owned and operated by the
CEGB 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 ...
as a stand-alone open cycle GT station and was commissioned in June 1981 but was later
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ed. It occupied a site on either side of
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, to the south of the Paddington main line and north of the
Grand Union Canal The Grand Union Canal in England is part of the British canal system. It is the principal navigable waterway between London and the Midlands. Starting in London, one arm runs to Leicester and another ends in Birmingham, with the latter st ...
, at its junction with the
Paddington Arm The Paddington Canal or Paddington Arm of the Grand Union Canal is a canal to Paddington in central London, England. It runs from the west of the capital at Bull's Bridge in Hayes. Little Venice — its only junction — is with the Reg ...
.


Plant

It was built as a peak lopping and rapid response plant to augment base load generation. It had a total generating capacity of 280 MW. It comprised four 70 MW generator sets each one being powered by four industrial Olympus gas generators, two at either end of the central alternator. It was connected electrically to the North Hyde 66 kV substation. By 1989 the gross capability was given as 3 x 70 MW plus 1 x 35 MW. Bulls Bridge typically ran at full power for intervals of 10 minutes to 1 hour. As a result of the
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the station was re-opened in the 1980s, During the year ending 31 March 1986 Bulls Bridge supplied 4.697 GWh of electricity, it's thermal efficiency was 20.02 per cent, and the load factor was 0.5 per cent.


Design

The design of Bulls Bridge power station was of sufficient merit that the
Royal Institute of British Architects The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) is a professional body for architects primarily in the United Kingdom, but also internationally, founded for the advancement of architecture under its royal charter granted in 1837, three suppl ...
(RIBA) commissioned a set of photographs of the station.


Monitoring

The operation of the gas turbines and the rest of the plant was closely monitored. Key operating parameters of the station's gas turbine engines were as follows.


Closure

On privatisation, the station was owned and run by Powergen, and ceased generating in 1993. The site has since been redeveloped and the station demolished. The western parcel of land is occupied by a
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engineering centre.


References

{{Authority control Natural gas-fired power stations in England Former power stations in London Demolished power stations in the United Kingdom