Megawatt Valley

Megawatt Valley is a term applied to a geographic location which houses a large number of electric generating stations. Historically in the United Kingdom this applied to the coal-fired power stations of the lower Trent Valley. In the mid-1980s, the valley's 13 facilities generated up to a quarter of the power demand for England and Wales. A shift to gas-fired power stations saw many of the Megawatt Valley facilities close down. The term was then associated with an area of Yorkshire centred on the River Aire that was home to Ferrybridge C, Eggborough and Drax power stations. Only the latter two facilities remain in operation. In the United States the term has been applied to an area of West Virginia, home to six power stations.

Megawatt Valley was a term originally applied to the Trent Valley. The area was developed in the 1960s by the nationalised Central Electricity Generating Board (CEGB). Many coal power stations were constructed on or near the banks of the River Trent and a major overhead power line network was constructed to supply Southern England. This construction coincided with a move by CEGB to shift the location of power generation from smaller city-based power stations to rural locations. These were more efficient as they could be larger, closer to fuel sources and cooling water supplies. The Trent Valley was ideal due its proximity to the Nottinghamshire and Yorkshire coal fields and ready supply of water from the Trent.

Power stations in Megawatt Valley included High Marnham in Nottinghamshire which, at 1000MW, was the largest power station in Europe when it was opened in October 1962, and was fed by 17 different collieries. In 1986 the valley was home to 13 of the 78 power stations in England and Wales and was responsible for up to a quarter of all power generated in the same area. This was the largest concentration of power generation in Europe. It was said that by the late 1960s the waters of the Trent were noticeably warmer than those of comparable rivers owing to heat transfer from the cooling water.

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