Carrington Power Station
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Carrington Power Station is a combined cycle gas turbine
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 electricity generation, generation of electric power. Power stations are generally connected to an electr ...
, which was completed in Autumn 2016 and began commercial operation on 18 September 2016. It is located on the site of a former coal-fired power station, close to the villages of Carrington and Partington in the Greater Manchester Area and southwest of Manchester City Centre. The
Manchester Ship Canal The Manchester Ship Canal is a inland waterway in the North West England, North West of England linking Manchester to the Irish Sea. Starting at the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary at Eastham, Merseyside, Eastham, near Ellesmere Port, Cheshire, it ...
and the
River Mersey The River Mersey () is a major river in North West England. Its name derives from Old English and means "boundary river", possibly referring to its having been a border between the ancient kingdoms of Mercia and Northumbria. For centuries it h ...
run alongside the site, in
Trafford Trafford is a metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England, with an estimated population of in . It covers and includes the area of Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford and the towns of Altrincham, Stretford, Urmston, Partington and Sa ...
,
Greater Manchester Greater Manchester is a ceremonial county in North West England. It borders Lancashire to the north, Derbyshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Cheshire to the south, and Merseyside to the west. Its largest settlement is the city of Manchester. ...
, in
North West England North West England is one of nine official regions of England and consists of the ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial counties of Cheshire, Cumbria, Greater Manchester, Lancashire and Merseyside. The North West had a population of 7,4 ...
.


History - coal-fired power station


Background

The station's site, on the south-east bank of the point where the
River Mersey The River Mersey () is a major river in North West England. Its name derives from Old English and means "boundary river", possibly referring to its having been a border between the ancient kingdoms of Mercia and Northumbria. For centuries it h ...
runs into the
Manchester Ship Canal The Manchester Ship Canal is a inland waterway in the North West England, North West of England linking Manchester to the Irish Sea. Starting at the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary at Eastham, Merseyside, Eastham, near Ellesmere Port, Cheshire, it ...
, was acquired by Manchester Corporation in 1916 as an alternative site for Barton Power Station, but was never developed. The construction of a coal-fired power station on the site did not occur until after the
Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
. The Manchester Corporation Electricity Department began planning the station in 1947. Planning was continued by 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 for ...
, following the
nationalisation Nationalization (nationalisation in British English) is the process of transforming privately owned assets into public assets by bringing them under the public ownership of a national government or state. Nationalization contrasts with priv ...
of the industry in 1948. It was initially planned for the site to comprise two stations; an A station and a B station. Each station was to have a capacity of 240 
megawatt The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of Power (physics), 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 quantification (science), quantify the rate of Work ...
s (MW), a total capacity of 480 MW over the site, but only the A station was built.


Construction, design and specification

Because the station's site was surrounded by water on two sides, its
strata In geology and related fields, a stratum (: strata) is a layer of Rock (geology), rock or sediment characterized by certain Lithology, lithologic properties or attributes that distinguish it from adjacent layers from which it is separated by v ...
were variable and so all of the buildings' foundations were piled. Approximately 7,850 piles were made, all of
reinforced concrete Reinforced concrete, also called ferroconcrete or ferro-concrete, is a composite material in which concrete's relatively low tensile strength and ductility are compensated for by the inclusion of reinforcement having higher tensile strength or ...
construction, with an average length of and with a load of 50 tonnes per pile. The station's main buildings consisted of a turbine hall, boiler house and a pair of chimneys. Other structures included
workshop Beginning with the Industrial Revolution era, a workshop may be a room, rooms or building which provides both the area and tools (or machinery) that may be required for the manufacture or repair of manufactured goods. Workshops were the only ...
s, storage areas, a canteen and office block buildings. The approximate dimensions of the main buildings measured by . 10,300 tonnes of steel was used in the main buildings'
steel frame Steel frame is a building technique with a "skeleton frame" of vertical steel columns and horizontal I-beams, constructed in a rectangular grid to support the floors, roof and walls of a building which are all attached to the frame. The develop ...
, erection of which began in November 1949, and the construction of the superstructure beginning in December 1950. The steel frame was clad with
brick A brick is a type of construction material used to build walls, pavements and other elements in masonry construction. Properly, the term ''brick'' denotes a unit primarily composed of clay. But is now also used informally to denote building un ...
, while copings and cills were made from
artificial stone Artificial stone is a name for various synthetic stone products produced from the 18th century onward. Uses include statuary, architectural details, fencing and rails, building construction, civil engineering work, and industrial applications su ...
. The station had granolithic flooring, but the turbine hall and boiler room floors were
tile Tiles are usually thin, square or rectangular coverings manufactured from hard-wearing material such as ceramic, Rock (geology), stone, metal, baked clay, or even glass. They are generally fixed in place in an array to cover roofs, floors, wal ...
d. The roofs were made from
reinforced concrete Reinforced concrete, also called ferroconcrete or ferro-concrete, is a composite material in which concrete's relatively low tensile strength and ductility are compensated for by the inclusion of reinforcement having higher tensile strength or ...
with
glass Glass is an amorphous (non-crystalline solid, non-crystalline) solid. Because it is often transparency and translucency, transparent and chemically inert, glass has found widespread practical, technological, and decorative use in window pane ...
glazing. Two
elevator An elevator (American English) or lift (Commonwealth English) is a machine that vertically transports people or freight between levels. They are typically powered by electric motors that drive traction cables and counterweight systems suc ...
s were provided, to give access to all floors. The station's two chimneys were each high and of brick construction. Ten million bricks were used in the construction of the station. Commissioning of the station's first generating set took place in 1953. All of the station's generating sets were commissioned by 1956. The station was officially opened by Sir William Walker on 20 July 1956. By then, the British Electricity Authority had become the Central Electricity Authority. This in turn became 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 Januar ...
in 1957.


Operation

The station generated electricity using four 60 megawatt (MW)
Metropolitan-Vickers Metropolitan-Vickers, Metrovick, or Metrovicks, was a British heavy electrical engineering company of the early-to-mid 20th century formerly known as British Westinghouse. Highly diversified, it was particularly well known for its industrial el ...
turbo-alternators, giving the station a total generating capacity of 240 MW. Steam for the generators was provided by seven boilers. Boilers no. 1 to 4 were produced by
Babcock & Wilcox Babcock & Wilcox Enterprises, Inc. is an American energy technology and service provider that is active and has operations in many international markets with its headquarters in Akron, Ohio. Historically, the company is best known for their stea ...
, and boilers no. 5 to 7 by John Brown Land Boilers. The latter were the first made by this company to be commissioned by the Central Electricity Authority. The boilers had a rated output of 45 kg/s; steam conditions were 62.06 bar and 482 °C. Initially the station operated at
base load The base load (also baseload) is the minimum level of demand on an electrical grid over a span of time, for example, one week. This demand can be met by unvarying power plants or dispatchable generation, depending on which approach has the best m ...
, and maintained a good load factor into the middle of its life. The generating capacity and electricity output from Carrington power station is given in the following table. The electricity output is demonstrated by the following graph. Between 1984 and 1985 the station broke its own output records. In the final years of its operating life it retained a high availability, to meet the peaks of winter evening electricity demands. After the United Kingdom's electric supply industry was
privatised Privatization (rendered privatisation in British English) can mean several different things, most commonly referring to moving something from the public sector into the private sector. It is also sometimes used as a synonym for deregulation wh ...
in 1990, the station was operated by PowerGen. It continued generating electricity until it was closed in 1991, and was demolished several years later.


Current gas-fired power station


Background

A gas-fired combined cycle gas turbine
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 electricity generation, generation of electric power. Power stations are generally connected to an electr ...
has now been built, utilising the same site as the original coal-fired station. Bridestone Developments constructed the £500 million station, which is capable of generating 884MW of electricity (at approximately 58% efficiency); enough power to supply a million homes. Irish utility company
ESB Group The Electricity Supply Board (ESB; ) is a state owned (95%; the rest are owned by employees) electricity company based in Ireland with operations worldwide. While historically a monopoly, the ESB now operates as a commercial semi-state concer ...
purchased an 85% stake in the project from Carlton Power in September 2008. The station is also a
combined heat and power plant Cogeneration or combined heat and power (CHP) is the use of a heat engine or power station to generate electricity and useful heat at the same time. Cogeneration is a more efficient use of fuel or heat, because otherwise- wasted heat from elec ...
, capable of providing nearby businesses with steam, if they require a supply. Bridestone were granted planning permission to build the station by the Department of Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform in July 2008. This meant the plans were not subject to approval from
Trafford Council Trafford Council, or Trafford Metropolitan Borough Council, is the local authority of the Metropolitan Borough of Trafford in Greater Manchester, England. It is a metropolitan borough council and provides the majority of local government service ...
. Its construction began in late 2009, providing 900 construction jobs. Fifty permanent jobs are provided by the current power station.


Construction, design and specification

Barge transport was used where possible for all heavy loads, such as the
gas turbine A gas turbine or gas turbine engine is a type of Internal combustion engine#Continuous combustion, continuous flow internal combustion engine. The main parts common to all gas turbine engines form the power-producing part (known as the gas gene ...
s. Shipments from global locations such as China, Indonesia, Germany, Poland and Spain navigated to Ellesmere port in Cheshire and eventually along the Manchester Ship Canal to the Carrington site. The trip from Ellesmere to Carrington was undertaken a total of 20 times. Across the 800 kilometres of waterways travelled, approx. 8,000 tonnes of equipment was transported. ESB claimed that this was 50% more efficient than road transport and that 200 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions were prevented as a result. Given the large workforce at the project, a ‘green travel plan’ was also implemented where workers were transported to and from the site via double-decker buses from satellite car parks. These measures reduced the impact of traffic on local residents. Due to the sustainable approaches adopted during construction of the station, the project was shortlisted for a UK corporate responsibility award in 2014. The station is a combined-cycle power plant (CCPP), using natural gas to generate 884MW of electricity. The CCPP uses both a gas and a steam turbine together, to produce up to 50 per cent more electricity from the same fuel than a traditional simple-cycle plant. The waste heat from the gas turbine is routed to the nearby steam turbine, which generates additional power. Carrington consists of two CCPP KA26-1 units. At operating design conditions, each CCPP unit generates 442.3 MW net output. The station generates enough power to meet the electricity needs of one million homes in the UK and began commercial operation on 18 September 2016. In 2013, Severfield plc contracted with the Duro Felguera group to provide steelwork for the new Carrington Power Station. Duro Felguera's UK subsidiary refused to pay a December 2014 stage payment. Severfield obtained
adjudication Adjudication is the legal process by which an arbiter or judge reviews evidence and argumentation, including legal reasoning set forth by opposing parties or litigants, to come to a decision which determines rights and obligations between th ...
under the
Housing Grants, Construction and Regeneration Act 1996 The Housing Grants, Construction and Regeneration Act 1996 is an Act of Parliament of the United Kingdom. Its long title shows that it is a piece of omnibus legislation: :''An Act to make provision for grants and other assistance for housing ...
for £2,470,231.97, and then sought
summary judgment In law, a summary judgment, also referred to as judgment as a matter of law or summary disposition, is a Judgment (law), judgment entered by a court for one party and against another party summarily, i.e., without a full Trial (law), trial. Summa ...
from the
High Court of Justice The High Court of Justice in London, known properly as His Majesty's High Court of Justice in England, together with the Court of Appeal (England and Wales), Court of Appeal and the Crown Court, are the Courts of England and Wales, Senior Cour ...
to enforce payment for a reduced amount of £1,445,495.78.
Judge Smith Christopher John Judge Smith (born 1 July 1948) is an English songwriter, author, composer and performer, and a founder member of progressive rock band Van der Graaf Generator. Initially working under the name Chris Judge Smith, he has been know ...
refused because part of the sum related to a power plant and was therefore excluded from the 1996 act, and the adjudicator's jurisdiction. Duro Felguera argued it was in fact owed money by Severfield because of overpayments. Severfield finally obtained a judgment in 2017 for £2,774,077.91 (or £1,760,480.27 up to 2014) but by then Duro Felguera UK Ltd had entered
liquidation Liquidation is the process in accounting by which a Company (law), company is brought to an end. The assets and property of the business are redistributed. When a firm has been liquidated, it is sometimes referred to as :wikt:wind up#Noun, w ...
and recovery was limited to what Duro Felguera in Spain could be obliged to pay under a
parent company guarantee A parent company guarantee (PCG) is a guarantee by a parent company of a contractor’s performance under its contract with its client, where the contractor is a subsidiary A subsidiary, subsidiary company, or daughter company is a company (law), ...
for the period up to 2014.


Power train

Each power train includes an Alstom GT26 gas turbine, a horizontal triple-pressure Heat Recovery Steam Generator (HRSG), a TOPGAS hydrogen-cooled generator and an Alstom STF15C triple pressure reheat
steam turbine A steam turbine or steam turbine engine is a machine or heat engine that extracts thermal energy from pressurized steam and uses it to do mechanical work utilising a rotating output shaft. Its modern manifestation was invented by Sir Charles Par ...
with axial exhaust and all other auxiliaries to operate the plant. The total combined power output of the two power trains is 884 MW. The GT26B gas turbine burns a mixture of compressed air and gas. When this mixture is ignited, the products of combustion expand over the blades of the turbine which generates
torque In physics and mechanics, torque is the rotational analogue of linear force. It is also referred to as the moment of force (also abbreviated to moment). The symbol for torque is typically \boldsymbol\tau, the lowercase Greek letter ''tau''. Wh ...
on the shaft. Each gas turbine contributes roughly 293 MW to the overall plant output. The thermal block of the GT26B gas turbine contains the
compressor A compressor is a mechanical device that increases the pressure of a gas by reducing its volume. An air compressor is a specific type of gas compressor. Many compressors can be staged, that is, the gas is compressed several times in steps o ...
, two combustion chambers, a high-pressure and a low-pressure turbine, inside a common outer housing. The main feature of the GT26 gas turbine is sequential combustion. The gas turbine incorporates two combustors that operate simultaneously and sequentially, providing higher thermal efficiencies with lower temperatures and emissions. The Heat Recovery Steam Generator (HRSG), is a
boiler A boiler is a closed vessel in which fluid (generally water) is heated. The fluid does not necessarily boil. The heated or vaporized fluid exits the boiler for use in various processes or heating applications, including water heating, centra ...
which is designed to use the heat from the exhaust gases of the gas turbine to create steam for the steam turbine. This increases the overall efficiency of each unit. The steam turbine adds approximately 161 MW to the overall power output of each unit. There are 3 cylinders within the steam turbine; each generate a different amount of power.


References


External links


Carrington Power
- Official website of new CCGT power station. {{North West Power Stations Coal-fired power stations in England Demolished power stations in the United Kingdom Power stations in North West England Demolished buildings and structures in Greater Manchester