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Westwood Power Station

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Coordinates:53°32′18″N2°37′40″W/ 53.538197°N 2.627654°W/53.538197; -2.627654
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Not to be confused withInce Power Station.

Westwood Power Station
Map
CountryEngland
LocationGreater Manchester,North West England
Coordinates53°32′18″N2°37′40″W/ 53.538197°N 2.627654°W/53.538197; -2.627654
StatusDecommissioned and demolished
Construction began1948
Commission date1950
Decommission date1980s
Operator(s)British Electricity Authority
(1948–1955)
Central Electricity Authority
(1955–1957)
Central Electricity Generating Board
(1958–1989)
Thermal power station
Primary fuelCoal
Turbine technologySteam turbine
Chimneys2
Cooling towers2
Cooling sourceRiver water
Power generation
Units decommissionedAll
[edit on Wikidata]

grid referenceSD585048

Westwood Power Stationwas acoal-fired power stationsituated adjacent to theLeeds and Liverpool CanalinInce-in-MakerfieldinGreater Manchester,North West England.

History[edit]

The station was constructed in 1948–50 by the British Electricity Authority. It used two 314 feet (96 m) tallcooling towersto cool its water.

The boiler plant comprised fiveBabcock & Wilcoxpulverised fuel fired boilers capable of delivering 1,425,000 lb/h (180.0 kg/s) of steam at 660psi(45.5bar) and 393 °C.[1]

Following the construction of the national grid in 1928-33 Westwood power station was connected to an electricity grid ring which included the power stations atSouthport,Lister Drive(Liverpool),WarringtonandRibble(Preston); this was one of three electricity rings in the North West.[2]

The generating capacity of the station was 128 MW comprising four upratedBritish Thomson-Houston32 MWturbo-alternators.The first generating set was commissioned in September 1951 followed by the other sets in December 1951, September 1952, and December 1953.[3]

Steam condensing and cooling was by two Mitchell reinforced concrete hyperbolic cooling towers, each tower had a capacity of 3 million gallons per hour (3.79 m3/s).

The generating capacity and output from Westwood power station is given in the following graph and table.[1][3][4][5]

Westwood power station electricity output, GWh

Westwood electricity capacity and output
Year 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1961 1962 1963 1972 1979 1982
Installed capacity, MW 112 112 112 112 112 128 128 128 128 128 128
Electricity output, GWh 58.08 631.32 605.82 457.36 544.62 543.495 583.181 609.853 217.35 280.33 185.97

In the year ending 31 March 1972 the station's load factor (the average load as a per cent of maximum output capacity) was 20.6 per cent.[1]

The station was demolished in 1989, the cooling towers were demolished on 15 January 1989.[6][7]

Today[edit]

The former power station site has been developed intoWestwood business parkwith over 610,000 square feet (57,000 m2) of office space.[8]Another part of the site had been redeveloped into aGirobankoffice from the early 1990s until it was demolished in 2015 to make way for a 400,000 sqftNice-Pakwet-wipe factory.[9][10]

References[edit]

  1. ^abcCEGB (1972).CEGB Statistical Yearbook 1972.London: CEGB. p. 17.
  2. ^Hannah, Leslie (1979).Electricity before Nationalisation.London: Macmillan. p. 121.ISBN0333220862.
  3. ^abGarrett, Frederick C., ed. (1959).Garke's Manual of Electricity Supply vol. 56.London: Electrical Press. pp. A-107, A-138.
  4. ^CEGB (1979).CEGB Statistical Yearbook 1978-79.London: CEGB. p. 8.ISBN0902543598.
  5. ^CEGBAnnual report and Accounts,1961, 1962 & 1963
  6. ^"Westwood Power Station"(PHP).www.wiganworld.co.uk/.Retrieved8 March2009.
  7. ^"Explosive end for 330 ft cooling towers".The Times.16 January 1989.
  8. ^Green light for green business parkArchived24 March 2011 at theWayback Machine
  9. ^"Nice-Pak, Westwood Park, Wigan"(PDF).www.greenremediation.co.uk.
  10. ^New premises Pak-ing a punchWigan Today
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