Hammersmith power station supplied electricity to the London Borough of

Hammersmith Hammersmith is a district of West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It is the administrative centre of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, and identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. It ...

from 1897 to 1965. It was owned and operated by the Hammersmith Vestry and then the Hammersmith Metropolitan Borough Council until the nationalisation of the British electricity supply industry in 1948. The power station was frequently redeveloped with new plant over its operational life to meet increased demands for electricity. It was decommissioned in 1965.

History

In 1893 the Hammersmith Vestry applied for a provisional order under the Electric Lighting Acts to generate and supply electricity to the parish. The was granted by the

Board of Trade The Board of Trade is a British government body concerned with commerce and industry, currently within the Department for Business and Trade. Its full title is The Lords of the Committee of the Privy Council appointed for the consideration of ...

and was confirmed by Parliament through the Electric Lighting Orders Confirmation (No. 3) Act 1893 ( 56 & 57 Vict. c. xl). The power station was built off Fulham Palace Road, north of Yeldham Road () and first supplied electricity on 21 June 1897 to a potential population of 104,000 (1898).

Equipment specification

The original 1898 plant at Hammersmith power station comprised Bellis and McClaren engines directly coupled to Ferranti flywheel disc alternators. In 1899 2xE.C.C.-Robey 300-kW steam alternators had been added totalling 3x175kW and 3x300kW machines The power station was then enlarged to allow an three additional boilers to power two Robey engines with Siemens iron core alternators of 600 kilowatts output.

Inter-war plant

Following the First World War further new plant was installed to meet growing demand for electricity. In 1920 a 10,000 kW Parsons turbo alternator set running at 3000 rpm was installed and by 1923 the generating plant comprised: * Coal-fired boilers generating up to 190,000 lb/h (23.9 kg/s) of steam, these supplied steam to: * Generators ** 1 × 1,500 kW steam turbo-alternator ** 2 × 2,000 kW steam turbo-alternators ** 1 × 3,000 kW steam turbo-alternator ** 1 × 10,000 kW steam turbo-alternator These machines gave a total generating capacity of 18,500 kW of

alternating current Alternating current (AC) is an electric current that 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 w ...

. The plant installed in 1919 included the UK's first large pulverised fuel fired boilers, these were provided on three of the units used a bin feed system. Hydraulic coal delivery was also introduced at Hammersmith. A choice of electricity supplies were available to consumers: * 2-phase, 50 Hz AC at 110 and 220 Volts * 3-phase, 50 Hz AC at 110 and 220 Volts.

New plant 1937

In 1937 the generating capacity of the station was 28,500 kW, the maximum load was 23,850 kW, and the connections on the system were 69.822 MW. By 1954 the plant comprised: * Boilers: ** 1 × 17,000 lb/h (2.1 kg/s) Stirling boilers with chain grate stoker, ** 2 × 20,000 lb/h (2.5 kg/s) Stirling boilers with chain grate stokers, ** 1 × 37,000 lb/h (4.7 kg/s) Stirling boilers with chain grate stoker, ** 3 × 45,000 lb/h (5.7 kg/s) Stirling boilers with chain grate stokers, The total evaporative capacity was 229,000 lb/h (28.8 kg/s), steam conditions were 200

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and 620–650 °F (13.8

bar Bar or BAR may refer to: Food and drink * Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages * Candy bar ** Chocolate bar * Protein bar Science and technology * Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment * Bar (tropical cyclone), a laye ...

, 327–343 °C), and supplied steam to: * Turbo-alternators: ** 2 × Parsons 10 MW turbo-alternators, 3000 rpm, generating at 6.6 kV Condenser cooling water was taken from the

River Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the The Isis, River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, s ...

Operations

Operational data for the early years of operation was as follows: There was a growth in the number of consumers and the amount of current sold within yearly variations.

Operating data 1921–23

The operating data for the period 1921–23 is shown in the table: Under the terms of the

Electricity (Supply) Act 1926 The Electricity (Supply) Act 1926 ( 16 & 17 Geo. 5. c. 51) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which amended the law on the supply of electricity. Its long title is: ‘An Act to amend the law with respect to the supply of electric ...

( 16 & 17 Geo. 5. c. 51) the

Central Electricity Board The United Kingdom Central Electricity Board (CEB) was established by the Electricity (Supply) Act 1926. It had the duty to supply electricity to authorised electricity undertakers, to determine which power stations would be 'selected' stations ...

(CEB) was established in 1926. The CEB identified high efficiency ‘selected’ power stations that would supply electricity most effectively. The CEB also constructed the National Grid (1927–33) to connect power stations within a region. Hammersmith power station was electrically connected to

Fulham power station Fulham Power Station was a coal-fired power station on the north bank of the River Thames at Battersea Reach in Fulham, London Station A ran from 1901, with station B opening in 1936, until their decommissioning in 1978. History Fulham A The ...

via twin 66 kV underground cables and to Barnes power station via triple 6.6 kV underground lines.

Operating data 1937 and 1946

Hammersmith power station operating data, 1937 and 1946 is as follows. The British electricity supply industry was

nationalised 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 ...

in 1948 under the provisions of the

Electricity Act 1947 The Electricity Act 1947 ( 10 & 11 Geo. 6. c. 54) was an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which nationalised, or bought into state control, the electricity supply industry in Great Britain. It established a central authority called t ...

( 10 & 11 Geo. 6. c. 54). The Hammersmith electricity undertaking was abolished, ownership of Hammersmith power station was vested in 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 ...

, and subsequently 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 res ...

and 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 ...

(CEGB). At the same time the electricity distribution and sales responsibilities of the Hammersmith electricity undertaking were transferred to the

London Electricity Board The London Electricity Board was the public sector utility company responsible for the supply and distribution of electricity to domestic, commercial and industrial consumers in London prior to 1990. It also sold and made available for hire and ...

(LEB).

Operating data 1954–65

Operating data for the period 1954–65 is shown in the table: The data demonstrates the less intensive use of the power station during its last decade of operating life. The electricity supplied, in MWh, by Hammersmith power station over its operating life was:

Closure

Hammersmith power station was decommissioned in 1965.Hammersmith is not listed in CEGB statistics after 1964/5. The buildings subsequently demolished and the area has been redeveloped with commercial and residential buildings.

References

{{Reflist Coal-fired power stations in England Demolished power stations in the United Kingdom Former power stations in England Power stations on the River Thames Former power stations in London