Radcliffe Power Station
Encyclopedia
Radcliffe Power Station was a coal-fired power station
in Radcliffe
, Greater Manchester
, England.
. It generated electricity using two 1.5 megawatt
(MW) turbo generating sets
made by British Thomson-Houston
. Radcliffe Power Station was the first power station in the UK to transmit power by bare electrical conductors at 10 kilovolts (kV). The station was fed coal by the nearby East Lancashire Railway line.
In May 1926, The Times
reported that the cost of generation per unit of electricity was .25d (approximately £0.001 today), the cost per unit sold being .483d (approximately £0.002). The station had delivered 125,727,060 units of electricity.
The station was originally operated by The Lancashire Electric Power Company
but was operated by the British Electricity Authority
, Central Electricity Authority
and Central Electricity Generating Board after nationalisation in 1947. It was closed a few years later in 1959.
Fossil fuel power plant
A fossil-fuel power station is a power station that burns fossil fuels such as coal, natural gas or petroleum to produce electricity. Central station fossil-fuel power plants are designed on a large scale for continuous operation...
in Radcliffe
Radcliffe, Greater Manchester
Radcliffe is a town within the Metropolitan Borough of Bury, in Greater Manchester, England. It lies on undulating ground in the Irwell Valley, along the course of the River Irwell, south-west of Bury and north-northwest of Manchester. Radcliffe is contiguous with the town of Whitefield to the...
, Greater Manchester
Greater Manchester
Greater Manchester is a metropolitan county in North West England, with a population of 2.6 million. It encompasses one of the largest metropolitan areas in the United Kingdom and comprises ten metropolitan boroughs: Bolton, Bury, Oldham, Rochdale, Stockport, Tameside, Trafford, Wigan, and the...
, England.
History
The station was opened on 9 October 1905 by the Earl of DerbyFrederick Stanley, 16th Earl of Derby
Frederick Arthur Stanley, 16th Earl of Derby KG, GCB, GCVO, PC , known as Frederick Stanley until 1886 and as Lord Stanley of Preston between 1886 and 1893, was a Conservative Party politician in the United Kingdom who served as Colonial Secretary from 1885 to 1886 and the sixth Governor General...
. It generated electricity using two 1.5 megawatt
Watt
The watt is a derived unit of power in the International System of Units , named after the Scottish engineer James Watt . The unit, defined as one joule per second, measures the rate of energy conversion.-Definition:...
(MW) turbo generating sets
Turbo generator
A turbo generator is a turbine directly connected to an electric generator for the generation of electric power. Large steam powered turbo generators provide the majority of the world's electricity and are also used by steam powered turbo-electric ships.Smaller turbo-generators with gas turbines...
made by British Thomson-Houston
British Thomson-Houston
British Thomson-Houston was a British engineering and heavy industrial company, based at Rugby, Warwickshire, England. They were known primarily for their electrical systems and steam turbines. They were merged with the similar Metropolitan-Vickers company in 1928, but the two maintained their own...
. Radcliffe Power Station was the first power station in the UK to transmit power by bare electrical conductors at 10 kilovolts (kV). The station was fed coal by the nearby East Lancashire Railway line.
In May 1926, The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
reported that the cost of generation per unit of electricity was .25d (approximately £0.001 today), the cost per unit sold being .483d (approximately £0.002). The station had delivered 125,727,060 units of electricity.
The station was originally operated by The Lancashire Electric Power Company
The Lancashire Electric Power Company
The Lancashire Electric Power Company was one of the largest private electricity companies in the UK. It was established by Act of Parliament in 1900.-History:...
but was operated by the British Electricity Authority
British Electricity Authority
The British Electricity Authority was established in 1948 with the nationalisation of the Great Britain's electricity supply industry. It was created by means of the Electricity Act 1947...
, Central Electricity Authority
Central Electricity Authority (UK)
The Central Electricity Authority was a body that ran the electricity supply industry in England and Wales between 1954 and 1957. The CEA replaced the earlier British Electricity Authority as a result of the Electricity Reorganisation Act 1954, which moved responsibility for Scottish electricity...
and Central Electricity Generating Board after nationalisation in 1947. It was closed a few years later in 1959.