POWER FOR LONDON

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XXI, Issue 304, 8 December 1931, Page 5

POWER FOR LONDON

MEETING INCREASED DEMAND. THREE BIG STATIONS. Important additions to the generating capacity of electric-power stations in the London metropolitan area are now in hand at Battersea, Barking and Fulham. When these three stations have all been completed to their ultimate designed capacity, they will contain 1,000,000 kiLwatts of generating power. The Battersea station of the London Power Company has reached an advanced stage of construction. In about a year’s time the two 65,000 kilowatts turbo-alternators, which are being manufactured by the MetropolitanVickers and British Thomson-Houstor Companies, should be generating energy. There will be room for a third set of the same size in the first section of the station, and provision has been made for the eventual duplication of this section, so that when the demand arises Battersea can be extended to an ultimate capacity of 400,000 kilowatts. At Barking, where the County of London Electric Supply Company’s existing station, with its 12 20,000 kilowatts Parsons turbo-alternators, has for some years enjoyed the distinction of being the largest power-station in Great Britain, good progress has been made with the construction of the first section of a new station, adjoining the present “A” station. Barking “B, ’’ when completed, will house four 75,000 kilowatts sets, giving it a total capacity of 300,000 kilowatts, so that the two Barking stations will have a combined capacity of 540,000 kilowatts. SITE OF ABOUT 40 ACRES. The Barking “A” and “B” stations wil together occupy a site of about 40 acres. The existing station is served by a jetty along the river front 460 ft. long, capable of accommodating ocean going colliers or 4000 to 5000 tons cap acity and provided with barge-berthing facilities at the two ends. It is being extended by about 550 ft., and two coalunloading cranes, each with a capacity of 200 tons an hour, will be added to the existing four, raising the total coalhandling capacity to over 1000 tons an hour. At the “A” station the chimneys are carried on the roof structure, but at the “B” station they will be placed about, 50ft. away from the boiler house and carried up from ground level. Four chimneys, 250 ft. high, are to be built, two on. the west and two on the east side of the boiler house. THE DEMAND FOR CURRENT. There has been a remarkable growth in the demand for current, in the area served by the County of London Company, which includes largo sections of the metropolitan district on both sides of the Thames and a considerable part of Essex, since the Barking station was opened by the King in 1925. In that year the installed plant had a capacity of about 100,000 kilowatts, and an out put of 37,500,000 units, whereas last year the output was about 511,000,000 units.

At Fulham work in connection with the construction of the new 300,000 kilowatts station to be •built by the Borough Council is still in the early stages. The station will contain five 60,000 kilowatts turbo-alternators generating at 11.000 volts. The preliminary design for the buildings is rather on American lines, and shows four massive chimneys, which will make the new station a landmark in West London.