Ironbridge Power Station
| Ironbridge power stations | |
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Ironbridge B Power Station
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 Location of Ironbridge power stations in Shropshire
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| Country | England, United Kingdom |
| Location | Shropshire, West Midlands |
| Coordinates | 52°37′48″N 2°30′43″W / 52.63005°N 2.511999°WCoordinates: 52°37′48″N 2°30′43″W / 52.63005°N 2.511999°W |
| Status | Ceased operations |
| Construction began | 1929 |
| Commission date |
A station: 1932 B station: 1969 |
| Decommission date |
A station: 1981 B station: commenced 2015 |
| Operator(s) |
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| Thermal power station | |
| Primary fuel | Wood Pellet (Biomass) |
| Power generation | |
| Nameplate capacity |
A station: 200 MW B station: 1,000 MW |
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Website www |
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The Ironbridge power stations (also known as the Buildwas power stations) refers to a series of two power stations which have occupied a site on the banks of the River Severn at Buildwas in Shropshire, England. The Ironbridge B Power Station was operated by E.ON UK but the site is now owned by Uniper. The station stands near the Ironbridge Gorge World Heritage Site, where the Industrial Revolution began. Originally powered by coal, they were converted to use 100% biomass fuel. Ironbridge B Power Station stopped generating electricity on 20 November 2015, with the decommissioning process expected to continue into 2017.
Ironbridge was selected to be the site of a large, modern "super station" by the West Midlands Joint Electricity Authority, in February 1927. The land had been identified earlier by Walsall Borough as being suitable for power generation, in 1924. The close proximity of the River Severn and several railway lines provided excellent access to both cooling water and a source for the delivery of coal. The flat land of the site, formed by fluvial processes at the end of the last ice-age, was ideal for the construction of a large turbine hall.
Construction of the first Ironbridge Power Station (later to become known as Ironbridge A Power Station) began in 1929, and the first phase was completed in 1932. The station officially opened on 13 October 1932. The full generating capacity of Ironbridge A was not realised until major expansions and the commissioning of extra boilers and generating sets had been completed in 1939. This gave the A Station a total generating output of 200 megawatts (MW).
As a result of the increasing demand for electricity after World War II, it was decided by the Central Electricity Generating Board that a new, larger, 1000 MW power station called Ironbridge B, was to be constructed alongside the A Station. The A station was partially closed on 27 October 1980, with the decommissioning of 100 MW of the station's generating capacity. The remainder of the station's capacity ceased generating electricity in 1981 and significant portions of the station were demolished in 1983 prior to being granted listed building status.
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Wikipedia