Carrington Power Station

Carrington Power Station
Location of Carrington Power Station in Greater Manchester
Country	England
Location	Greater Manchester, North West England
Coordinates	53°26′09″N 2°24′39″W / 53.435771°N 2.410892°W / 53.435771; -2.410892Coordinates: 53°26′09″N 2°24′39″W / 53.435771°N 2.410892°W / 53.435771; -2.410892
Commission date	1956
Decommission date	1991
Operator(s)	Central Electricity Authority (1956–1957) Central Electricity Generating Board (1957–1990) PowerGen (1990–1991)
Thermal power station
Primary fuel	Coal-fired
grid reference SJ728933

Carrington Power Station is a Combined Cycle Gas Turbine power station, 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 12 km southwest of Manchester City Centre. The Manchester Ship Canal and the River Mersey run alongside the site, in Trafford, Greater Manchester, in North West England.

The station's site, on the south-east bank of the point where the River Mersey runs into the Manchester Ship Canal, 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. The Manchester Corporation Electricity Department began planning the station in 1947. Planning was continued by the British Electricity Authority, following the nationalisation 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 megawatts (MW), a total capacity of 480 MW over the site, but only the A station was built.

Because the station's site was surrounded by water on two sides, its strata were variable and so all of the buildings' foundations were piled. Approximately 7,850 piles were made, all of reinforced concrete construction, with an average length of 30 feet (9.1 m) 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 workshops, storage areas, a canteen and office block buildings. The approximate dimensions of the main buildings measured 480 feet (150 m) by 275 feet (84 m). 10,300 tonnes of steel was used in the main buildings' steel frame, erection of which began in November 1949, and the construction of the superstructure beginning in December 1950. The steel frame was clad with brick, while copings and cills were made from artificial stone. The station had granolithic flooring, but the turbine hall and boiler room floors were tiled. The roofs were made from reinforced concrete with glass glazing. Two elevators were provided, to give access to all floors. The station's two chimneys were each 350 feet (110 m) high and of brick construction. Ten million bricks were used in the construction of the station.