The Newton Abbot power station was a

power station A power station, also referred to as a power plant and sometimes generating station or generating plant, is an industrial facility for the generation of electric power. Power stations are generally connected to an electrical grid. Many ...

originally built in 1898 at Jetty Marsh,

Newton Abbot Newton Abbot is a market town and civil parish on the River Teign in the Teignbridge District of Devon, England. Its 2011 population of 24,029 was estimated to reach 26,655 in 2019. It grew rapidly in the Victorian era as the home of the So ...

as a small station to serve the local community. It was subsequently significantly expanded, and changed from

direct current Direct current (DC) is one-directional flow of electric charge. An electrochemical cell is a prime example of DC power. Direct current may flow through a conductor such as a wire, but can also flow through semiconductors, insulators, or ev ...

alternating current Alternating current (AC) is an electric current which periodically reverses direction and changes its magnitude continuously with time in contrast to direct current (DC) which flows only in one direction. Alternating current is the form in whic ...

when bought by the

Torquay Torquay ( ) is a seaside town in Devon, England, part of the unitary authority area of Torbay. It lies south of the county town of Exeter and east-north-east of Plymouth, on the north of Tor Bay, adjoining the neighbouring town of Paig ...

corporation in the 1920s to provide power across a wider area towards the coast. It reached its peak capacity of 52.5

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 ...

s in 1948 - the same year that it was nationalised.. The station was used less from the mid-1960s as more efficient plant was used via the national grid, and it was finally closed in 1974 with demolition following shortly after. The site is now a housing estate.

History

From the late 1890s, both Newton Abbot and Torquay developed their own electricity generating capacity to serve the local areas. The Newton Abbot Electricity Generating Station was established with all

(DC) supply, being used mainly for industrial loads. The site was located at Jetty Marsh, adjacent to the Moretonhampstead and South Devon Railway branch of the

Great Western Railway The Great Western Railway (GWR) was a British railway company that linked London with the southwest, west and West Midlands of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, received its enabling Act of Parliament on 31 August 1835 and ran ...

, and between the River Teign and River Lemon. This allowed the station to receive coal deliveries both by rail, and by barge at the jetty. The power station also drew water from the Teign, before discharging it again in the Lemon. In 1923 the station was operated by the Urban Electricity Supply Company Limited. The electricity plant comprised 3 × 90 kW and 1 × 250 kW reciprocating engines and generators producing 240 & 480 V DC. In 1923 the station generated 708,402 kWh of electricity, some of this was used in the plant, the total amount sold was 526,171 kWh. The revenue from sales of current was £4,332, this gave a surplus of revenue over expenses of £1,029. In the 1920s, the Torquay Corporation acquired the Newton Abbot power station, and built a new station to replace their aging unit at Beacon Quay on Torquay seafront. The new station, serving both Newton Abbot and Torquay, was opened in 1924, and was continually expanded until the last major investment in 1948. During the development of the high pressure section of the power station in 1940 a single, large cooling tower was built to satisfy the condenser demands or the new boilers, and this was a dominant feature of the Newton Abbot Skyline. The cooling tower had a rated capacity of 1,000,000 gallons per hour (1.26 m³/s) The plant at the station comprised: * two Stirling boilers each 33,000 pounds per hour, operating at 265 psi and 650 °F, * two Stirling boilers each 50,000 pounds per hour, operating at 265 psi and 750 °F, * four Stirling boilers each 100,000 pounds per hour, operating at 425 psi and 825 °F, * two 15 MW British Thomson-Houston turbo-alternators generating at 11 kV 50 Hz, * two 7.5 MW British Thomson-Houston turbo-alternators generating at 11 kV 50 Hz, * two 3.3 MW British Thomson-Houston turbo-alternators generating at 11 kV 50 Hz, * one 225 kW Belliss turbo-alternator, 520 Volt DC, * three rotary converters, 2 × 400 kW one 500 kW. In 1948, electricity supply was nationalised, and the station became the responsibility 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 ...

(1948-1955) then the

Central Electricity Authority The Central Electricity Authority (CEA) was a body that managed and operated the electricity supply industry in England and Wales between 1 April 1955 and 31 December 1957. The CEA replaced the earlier British Electricity Authority (BEA) as a r ...

(1955-1957) and finally the

Central Electricity Generating Board 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 Janu ...

(1958-1974). The electricity distribution and sales functions of the local authority were vested in the

South Western Electricity Board SWEB Energy, formerly South Western Electricity Board (SWEB) was a British state-owned regional electricity company operating in South West England which was privatised by the Thatcher government. Although sold many times, the 'SWEB' brand n ...

. Once connected to the national grid, it was a smaller and less efficient station, and usage gradually declined, including long periods of 'cold' shutdown. In 1972 the output from the station was 27.106 GWh, and the load as a percentage of the output capacity was 8.8 per cent. The station was finally closed in 1974, and demolished shortly after. A Bellis and Morcom steam generating engine was preserved and survives at Poldark Mine museum in Cornwall where it has been since 1972. Of the triple expansion type its believed to date from 1920.

Installed generating capacity over time

The output of the station is shown below.Electricity Commission, ''Generation of Electricity in Great Britain year ended 31st December 1946''. London: HMSO, 1947.

References

{{South West powerstations Former power stations in England Power stations in South West England Buildings and structures in Devon Newton Abbot