Radcliffe Power Station was a

coal-fired power station A coal-fired power station or coal power plant is a thermal power station which burns coal to generate electricity. Worldwide there are about 2,500 coal-fired power stations, on average capable of generating a gigawatt each. They generate ...

in Radcliffe,

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. ...

, England.

History

The station was opened on 9 October 1905 by the

Earl of Derby Earl of Derby ( ) is a title in the Peerage of England. The title was first adopted by Robert de Ferrers, 1st Earl of Derby, under a creation of 1139. It continued with the Ferrers family until the 6th Earl forfeited his property toward the en ...

. It generated electricity using two 1,500 kW turbo generating sets made by

British Thomson-Houston British Thomson-Houston (BTH) was a British engineering and heavy industry, heavy industrial company, based at Rugby, Warwickshire, England. Originally founded to sell products from the Thomson-Houston Electric Company, it soon became a manufac ...

. Radcliffe Power Station was the first power station in the UK to transmit power by bare electrical conductors at 10kV. The station was fed coal by the nearby

East Lancashire Railway The East Lancashire Railway is a heritage railway line in North West England which runs between Heywood, Greater Manchester and Rawtenstall in Lancashire. There are intermediate stations at Bury Bolton Street, , Summerseat and Ramsbott ...

line. The station was progressively expanded, reaching a combined capacity of 42,375 kW following the installation of two extra 10,000 kW British Thomson-Houston generating sets in 1922. In May 1926, ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'' reported that the cost of generation per unit of electricity was .25d (approximately £0.001 today), the cost per unit sold being 0.483d (approximately £0.002). The station had delivered 125,727,060 units of electricity. The station was originally operated by the Lancashire Electric Power Company but was operated 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 ...

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

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 ...

after nationalisation in 1947. It was closed a few years later in 1959.

References

External links

An image of Mount Sion road that shows the station in the distance
{{North West Power Stations Coal-fired power stations in England Buildings and structures in the Metropolitan Borough of Bury 1905 establishments in England 1959 disestablishments in England Power stations in North West England Irwell Valley Radcliffe, Greater Manchester