Power Stations & Electricity Generation in Glasgow

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Re: Power Stations & Electricity Generation in Glasgow

Postby banjo » Fri Nov 25, 2011 5:40 pm

should have read,let there be paint.
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Re: Power Stations & Electricity Generation in Glasgow

Postby Vinegar Tom » Mon Mar 26, 2012 9:41 pm

For anyone who is interested, there are currently works at the Dalmarnock power station site that have exposed the remains of some of the station buildings. Quite a lot to see and probably best viewed from the top deck of the number 18 bus.
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Re: Power Stations & Electricity Generation in Glasgow

Postby gap74 » Mon Mar 26, 2012 10:22 pm

Took some pics of these today, oddly enough - was just thinking there was something iceberg-like about it, since it's clear they've removed tons of material and have tons to go, and all of it was sub-surface! Will post the pics if I get a chance to upload them before I leave work tonight...
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Re: Power Stations & Electricity Generation in Glasgow

Postby cell » Fri Mar 30, 2012 11:44 am

gap74 wrote:Took some pics of these today, oddly enough - was just thinking there was something iceberg-like about it, since it's clear they've removed tons of material and have tons to go, and all of it was sub-surface! Will post the pics if I get a chance to upload them before I leave work tonight...



Would be really interested to see those pictures, I would expect there to be some pretty hefty concrete foundations in there for the turbines and boilers and I suspect they were just bulldozed over when the station was demolished. I would also imagine there are large culverts for cooling water down below the normal ground level.
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Re: Power Stations & Electricity Generation in Glasgow

Postby gap74 » Sat Mar 31, 2012 10:23 pm

OK, these are from three different passes, and I was on foot each time unfortunately, so I wasn't afforded the aerial view a double decker would have allowed!

First wander was on March 4th, when the hoarding started to go up along the Clyde - as you can also see, the railway bridge in the distance appears to be getting a makeover too - sorry for the quality, the sun was right in the lens, so less than ideal shooting conditions:

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Sticking my camera through the gates, this is a general view looking NW - the large piles of already pulverised concrete comes from the back of the site, near the railway line, where work seemed to have started:

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The next sortie was on the 26th March - by this time, the wall next to the Clyde Walkway had been reduced to the level of the hoarding erected in front of it. You can see some quite thick foundations behind it:

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Closer look:

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Looking NW again, some quite extensive foundations appearing in the distance:

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Closer look:

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Two days later, another peek:

Image

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Re: Power Stations & Electricity Generation in Glasgow

Postby Mori » Sun Apr 01, 2012 1:41 pm

Must have been a massive excavation on the land around that power station.

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Construction work at Dalmarnock Power Station in February 1955.

Dalmarnock Power Station was built by Glasgow Corporation in two stages, with phase one opening in 1920 and phase two in 1926. The station was transferred to the British Electricity Authority (BEA) in 1948 on the nationalisation of the industry. Originally planned to generate 100,000 kilowatts, Dalmarnock had more than doubled its output by the time of the transfer and had a capacity of 237,500 kilowatts following a series of improvements to the plant. Further upgrading work was required in the 1950s, to help meet the rising demand from 266,819 domestic and commercial consumers of electricity in the Glasgow sub-area.
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Re: Power Stations & Electricity Generation in Glasgow

Postby edward carolan » Sun Apr 01, 2012 7:02 pm

Does anyone know what is happening to the original electricity generating plant building in the St. Andrews Works on Viccy Rd?
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Re: Power Stations & Electricity Generation in Glasgow

Postby cell » Mon Apr 02, 2012 3:22 pm

Thanks gap74, looks like some major work going on there, they seem to be digging out the basement level of the station which would have just been filled in with demolition rubble, the bits near the river coincide with the platforms on the edge of the Clyde (where the neds usually fish from!) which were the cooling water intakes so it makes sense there were large basins there.

Is the Dalmarnock work part of the commonwealth games? Looks like the whole site is being redeveloped.

I saw an article about the St Andrews site that said a lot of old preserved engineering stuff which was in storage there was going to have to be move out because the council wanted the building for something else but it didn't say what.

For anyone that wants a bit more detail about Dalmarnock Power Station

It features as a backdrop to an Alasdair Gray drawing which I wish I owned!

The Corporation was authorised to supply electricity in 1890. By 1910 it needed to expand its generating capacity and purchased 11 acres of land next to the river in Dalmarnock for the construction of a new station. Work started in 1914, it was suspended after a year in 1915 because of WW1 but was started again before the end of the war. Dalmarnock Power Station was eventually commissioned in two stages, in 1920 and 1926, with various extensions and refurbishments in later years, most notably in 1938 with an extra 100MW added and in 1957 when 120MW of new high pressure equipment replaced older equipment). Once it was fully opened, St Andrews and Port Dundas generating stations were closed leaving Dalmarnock as the main Glasgow Corporation station (Pinkston was part of the Tramways dept) At it's largest the station had a capacity of 257MW, there was a change from coal to oil firing late on in it's life which probably hastened it's demise when oil prices rose in the 70's, it was decommissioned on 31/03/78 and demolished between 18/04/78-15/04/83.

Total station size in
1920 18.75MW 1x18.75MW
1921 37.5MW 2x18.75MW
1922 75MW 4x18.75MW
1923 93.75MW 5x18.75MW 1st half complete
1926 131.25MW 7x18.5 last 2 commisioned in April & June 1926
1928 131.25MW 7x18.75MW
1929 137.5MW 6x18.5, 1x25MW
1931 137.5MW 6x18.5, 1x25MW Part of 132KV Central Scotland Grid
1933 137.5MW 6x18.5, 1x25MW
1938 237.5MW 6x18.75, 1x25, 2x50MW
1952 237.5MW 6x18.75, 1x25, 2x50MW EUW
1957 257.5MW 2x18.75, 2x50, 2x60MW
1965 257.5MW 2x18.75, 2x50, 2x60MW ESB
1967 246MW 2x18.75, 2x50, 2x60MW ESB inconsistency in total
1971 244MW 2x18.75, 2x50, 2x60MW ESB inconsistency in total
1974 209MW 2x50, 2x60MW ESB inconsistency in total
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Re: Power Stations & Electricity Generation in Glasgow

Postby Vinegar Tom » Tue Jun 05, 2012 8:45 pm

Not Glasgow, but probably the most appropriate thread for this one. Thanks to Mrs VT for pointing this one out.

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Royal Burgh of Perth Electric Lighting 1900 by vinegartom40, on Flickr
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Re: Power Stations & Electricity Generation in Glasgow

Postby gap74 » Tue Jun 05, 2012 8:50 pm

The wall on Dalmarnock Road finally came down last week - although work to dig out the concrete foundations is still ongoing - huuuuuge job!
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Re: Power Stations & Electricity Generation in Glasgow

Postby robertpool » Wed Jun 20, 2012 12:13 am

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Re: Power Stations & Electricity Generation in Glasgow

Postby cell » Wed Jun 20, 2012 12:20 pm

Nice colour one of Yoker Robert, I’ve come across a few similar ones which must have been snapped on “doon” the water trips.
Yoker was originally opened in 1905 by the Clyde Valley Electrical Power Co, the multiple metal chimneys are a common feature of older stations and their size and grouping indicate the various stages of the station as it has expanded over time.

VT, Thanks for the Perth picture, I’m always on the lookout for any photos that show any remains of the old Scottish Electricity Supply companies. BTW the original Perth electricity works is still standing down by the river.

http://goo.gl/maps/IxqR
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Re: Power Stations & Electricity Generation in Glasgow

Postby robertpool » Wed Jun 20, 2012 12:37 pm

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Re: Power Stations & Electricity Generation in Glasgow

Postby yoker brian » Wed Jun 20, 2012 3:01 pm

Yoker power station was built in 1905 by the British Thomson Houston Co, with equipment supplied by Westinghouse. It was later acquired by the Clyde Valley Electric Power Co, and, in 1955, by the South of Scotland Electricity Board.

The power station stood in the area to the west of Ferry Road and south of the former Caledonian Railway line which ran between the River Clyde and Dumbarton Road, and dominated the Yoker skyline for years with it’s fourteen tall blackened chimneys

In it's heyday it burned approximately 6000 tons of coal per week.

Output rose from 4000 kilowatts in 1905 to 100,000 kilowatts by 1966, when the coal fired station had eight high-pressure boilers.

The station was almost entirely rebuilt in 1929-31 and again in 1937-39 when two 20 Megawatt and later two pioneering 30 Megawatt turbo-alternators were installed.

The smaller set was decommissioned on 31st March 1973 with the remaining generators being decommissioned on 28th February 1975.

Most power stations supply current to the national grid but until it's decommissioning, it remained a "local generator" supplying directly to local consumers in Linwood, Renfrew, Clydebank, Knightswood and, of course, Yoker itself.

The ferry slipways were dominated by twin pylons, which had to be sufficiently tall enough to allow shipping to pass safely below - although in later years the towers on both north and south banks were reduced in height.

The site was cleared and lay derilict for many years, until 2007 when work began to construct a new housing development
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Re: Power Stations & Electricity Generation in Glasgow

Postby cell » Fri Jun 22, 2012 9:34 am

Thanks Brian, the closure dates are useful where did these come from? Without wanting to be too much of a pedant, I’d like to correct some of the detail in your post.

BTH may have been a contractor but the station was originally commissioned and built by the Clyde Valley Electrical Power Company.

One of the main reasons that it did last for so long was that it was a key part of the national grid having been identified by the Central Electricity Board as one the “selected” stations. The CEB having been formed in 1927, controlled power station operation and created the 1st national grid in 1933. When the electricity supply industry was nationalised in 1947, the station was taken over by the South West of Scotland Electricity Board which in turn become the South of Scotland Electricity Board (SSEB) in 1955.

I’d put together a potted history of the earliest Clyde Valley Electrical Power Company stations which details some of the specific equipment installations at Yoker.

The Clyde Valley Electrical Power Company Ltd was formed in 1901 with the aim of generating and selling electricity to the numerous engineering concerns in and around Glasgow. The company initially planned 3 stations at Motherwell Yoker and Crookston (the Crookston station never materialised) and the company signed a contract in 1902 with the British Westinghouse Electrical & Manufacturing Co Ltd to design, equip and build the stations at Motherwell and Yoker. The intention was for each station to have three 1.5MW engine generator sets however late in 1902 the decision was made to switch to the new steam turbine alternators which were beginning to be adopted as the most efficient way of generating electricity and whose development Westinghouse was at the forefront. Orders were placed with Babcock & Wilcox for boilers in Oct 1903 for both stations. The company opted to install only two 2MW sets at each station but to include foundations for a third 3.5MW set at each. Before the stations were finished additional foundations for a fourth set at each had been approved in 1904. interst.

The official opening of the Yoker station was on 21/06/1905 and supply commenced on 10/08/1905, Motherwell opened in January 1906. Motherwell was first to be extended in 1907, with a 4MW set which proved problematic and had to be removed soon after by the manufacturer. To compensate, Westinghouse proposed a remedial plan which the company accepted and in 1908 the two 2MW sets at Motherwell were upgraded to 3MW each by rewinding, one of the 2MW sets was transferred from Yoker to Motherwell and temporary 1MW & 0.6MW sets were installed at Yoker. These appear to have been the only ones available from Westinghouse and were on a sell back option for when more appropriate units were available. This demonstrates the rapid growth of the electricity generating and equipment supply industries at this time and illustrates some of the problems encountered. Generating company had to be prepared to be flexible, moving and installing equipment on short time scales and utilising what was available, equipment suppliers were designing and building ever bigger machines which often encountered teething problems requiring remedial work and machines to be juggled on the production lines, often machines had to diverted from other contracts depending the progress of the building works ongoing at the stations and the importance of the contracts.

In 1909 two 2MW sets at Yoker were rewound to provide 3MW each which suggests that the transferred set had been replaced at some time. By 1912 two further 5MW sets had been installed at Yoker and the 1MW & 0.6MW sets sold back. Two additional 5MW sets were also installed by 1912 at Motherwell, additional boilers at both works for these units were again supplied by Babcocks. These 5MW sets, at least at Yoker, were later rewound to give 6MW.

Although the market was there, it appears that the Motherwell station was not ideally placed to be further expanded, cooling water would have been an important consideration, and the company opted to build and develop the much larger station at Clyde’s Mill which opened in 1916. The Motherwell station was closed at some time around 1930, with the buildings demolished in the 1970s.

The Yoker station, situated on the banks of the Clyde, with plenty of cooling water and good access for coal supplies was further developed by the Company over the coming years. A 18.75MW set was installed in 1918, two 20MW sets in 1929 & 1931 and a pair of 30MW sets in 1937 and 1939. By 1949 the station capacity was 100MW. It is not known when the older smaller sets were decommissioned but the company did change frequency during this period from 25 to 50 hz which would have made the oldest machines obsolete. There is a 1932 reference to scrapping a 15 year old 25hz machine which is probably the 18.75MW set, implying that the smaller sets had been removed or replaced earlier, possibly as part of the installation of the 20MW sets. Early in the life of the station, boilers were not tied to specific sets and were often added to and reused with the newer turbines however as steam conditions advanced specific new boilers and boiler house extensions were required.
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