Salisbury power station supplied electricity to the English city of

Salisbury Salisbury ( , ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and civil parish in Wiltshire, England with a population of 41,820, at the confluence of the rivers River Avon, Hampshire, Avon, River Nadder, Nadder and River Bourne, Wi ...

and the surrounding area from 1898 to c. 1970. It was owned and operated by Salisbury Electric Light and Supply Company Limited prior to 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 British electricity supply industry in 1948. The power station was redeveloped several times to incorporate new plant to replace retired equipment. The facilities included a water driven turbine.

History

In 1895 Salisbury Electric Light and Supply Company Limited (registered on 20 June 1894) applied for a provisional order under the Electric Lighting Acts to generate and supply electricity to the city. 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. 5) Act 1895 ( 58 & 59 Vict. c. cii). The power station was built at Town Mill, a former 18th-century water mill on the River Avon, just upstream of Fisherton Bridge in the city centre (). It first supplied electricity on 22 June 1898.

Equipment specification

The original plant at the power station comprised a 60 horse-power (45 kW) Gilkes

water turbine A water turbine is a rotary machine that converts kinetic energy and potential energy of water into mechanical work. Water turbines were developed in the 19th century and were widely used for industrial power prior to electrical grids. Now, t ...

running at 28 rpm and powered by the River Avon. The turbine was connected via belts to Parker dynamos. The capacity of the plant was 120 kW and there were 1,000 lamps connected to the system. In 1898 a new coal-fired steam plant was being built, equipped with Belliss engines and Parker dynamos.

Plant in 1923

By 1923 the generating plant comprised: * Coal-fired boilers generating up to 21,000 lb/h (2.64 kg/s) of steam which was fed to: * Generators: ** 1 × 90 kW

reciprocating engine A reciprocating engine, more often known as a piston engine, is a heat engine that uses one or more reciprocating pistons to convert high temperature and high pressure into a rotating motion. This article describes the common features of al ...

driving a generator ** 1 × 100 kW reciprocating engine driving a generator ** 1 × 180 kW reciprocating engine driving a generator ** 2 × 200 kW reciprocating engines driving generators The station also had a 30 kW water turbine. These machines gave a total generating capacity of 800 kW of

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

(DC). The supply to consumers was at 420 and 210 volts DC.

Plant in 1955

The plant in 1955 comprised: * Boilers: ** 4 ×

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 ...

water tube boilers with a total evaporative capacity 49,000 lb/h (6.2 kg/s), producing steam at 200

psi Psi, PSI or Ψ may refer to: Alphabetic letters * Psi (Greek) (Ψ or ψ), the twenty-third letter of the Greek alphabet * Psi (Cyrillic), letter of the early Cyrillic alphabet, adopted from Greek Arts and entertainment * "Psi" as an abbreviat ...

and 700 °F (13.8 bar, 371 °C) which was fed to: * Turbo-alternators: ** 1 × English Electric 0.75 MW turbo-alternator, generating at 11 kV ** 1 × English Electric 0.55 MW turbo-alternator, generating at 11 kV ** 1 × Brush 1.60 MW, turbo-alternators, generating at 6.6 kV. The total installed generating capacity was 2.9 MW, with an output capacity of 3MW. Condenser cooling water was drawn from the River Avon.

Operations

There was a trend for electricity consumption to increase during the course of the First World War (1914–1919). It was noted the Salisbury (and

Taunton Taunton () is the county town of Somerset, England. It is a market town and has a Minster (church), minster church. Its population in 2011 was 64,621. Its thousand-year history includes a 10th-century priory, monastic foundation, owned by the ...

) municipal electricity undertakings suffered a fall in electricity sales in this period, associated with the lack of industry in these areas.

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. 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.

Operating data 1946

Salisbury power station operating data for 1946 was: 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 Salisbury electricity undertaking was abolished, ownership of Salisbury 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 Salisbury electricity undertaking were transferred to the

Southern Electricity Board Southern Electric plc was a public limited energy company in the United Kingdom between 1990 and 1998, when it merged with Scottish Hydro-Electric plc to form Scottish and Southern Energy plc (now SSE plc). The company had its origins in the s ...

(SEB).

Operating data 1954–67

Operating data for the period 1954–67 is shown in the table: Salisbury power station was part of the Salisbury electricity supply district, an area of 421 square miles, including at least part of the districts of Salisbury, Wilton, Amesbury, Mere, Tisbury, Blandford, Wimborne, Andover and Stockbridge. Consumer supplies were available as AC, 1-phase, 240–480V and 3-phase, 240–415 V.

Closure

Salisbury power station was decommissioned in about 1970. The building was

Grade II listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, H ...

under the name Salisbury Generating Station in 1952. In 1979 the site was owned by

Salisbury City Council Salisbury City Council is a Parish councils in England, parish-level council for Salisbury, England. It was established 2009 structural changes to local government in England, in April 2009 and is based in the city's historic Salisbury Guildhal ...

who wished to replace the station and surrounding buildings with a hotel, but this did not come to fruition.

References

{{Reflist Coal-fired power stations in England Demolished power stations in the United Kingdom Former power stations in England Buildings and structures in Salisbury