Bankside Power Station is a decommissioned power station located on the south bank of the River Thames, in the Bankside area of the Borough of Southwark, London. It generated electricity from 1891 to 1981. It was also used as a training base for electrical and mechanical student apprenticeships from all over the country. Since 2000 the building has housed the Tate Modern art museum and gallery.
Pioneer station The pioneer Bankside power station was built at Meredith Wharf Bankside in 1891. It was owned and operated by the City of London Electric Lighting Company (CLELCo) and supplied electricity to the City and to part of north Southwark. The generating equipment was installed by the Brush Electrical Engineering Company and comprised two pairs of 25 kW Brush arc-lighters and two 100 kW single phase alternators generating at 2 kV and 100 Hz. This equipment first supplied direct current (DC) electricity to arc lamp street lights in Queen Victoria Street on 25 June 1891. Alternating current (AC) for domestic and commercial consumers was first supplied on 14 December 1891, this was a single-phase, 100 Hz, three-wire, 204/102 volt system. Electricity cables were carried over Southwark bridge and Blackfriars bridge.
Bankside A, 1893–1959 The power station, later known as Bankside A, was extended several times as the demand for electricity grew.
An engine room, 230 ft (70 m) long and 50 ft (15 m) wide, was built in 1893 with two 200 kW, two 350 kW and two 400 kW alternators driven by Willans engines. The associated boiler house was the same length and had nine Babcock and Wilcox boilers. In 1895 the engine room was extended to 424 ft (129 m) and the boiler house to 300 ft (91 m) containing 22 boilers. In 1896 two Ferranti two Ferranti compound engines driving 1,500 kW alternators were installed.
In 1900 a new power house was built to install continuous-current plant, consisting of three 1,000 kW Allis-Westinghouse and six 2,000 kW Musgrave-Westinghouse sets. These were partly to provide a DC power supply to Fleet Street printing presses. These were followed by plant consisting of a 2,500 kW Parsons turbine driving dynamos in tandem and three 2,500 kW Parsons turbo-alternators, the latter being used for supplying the lighting load of the more remote districts.
In 1901 the boiler house was doubled in width and contained 46 boilers. In the engine room there were ten British Thomson-Houston alternators directly coupled to three-crank Willans engines, eight Brush alternators with a capacity of 3,600 kW driven by two-cylinder compound Brush engines, and two Ferranti compound engines driving 1,500 kW alternators at 150 RPM, making an aggregate capacity of 10,500 kW.
The first 2,500 kW turbo-alternator was installed in December 1910 and a second in January 1911, others followed at nearly yearly intervals. In 1913 a further 2,500 kW Parsons turbo-generator of the same pattern as the previous ones also a set consisting of two 2,000 kW Westinghouse generators driven from a Parsons turbine through gearing. By 1920 there were seven turbo-alternators with an aggregate capacity of 19,500 kW. Until 1919 the system of generation was 2 kV, single-phase AC, and 450 V DC, this was changed that year to 11 kV, three-phase AC. The steam conditions were also increased from 150 psi to 250 psi with superheat to .
Over the period 1921–1928 a new boiler house was built alongside the east face of the power house. This had 18 boilers. The coal strike of 1921 led to six of the boilers being specified for oil firing, although two of these were later returned to coal firing. The old boiler house and its three 150 ft (46 m) chimneys were demolished. +Bankside A generating capacity and outputGarcke, Manual of Electrical Undertakings, Vols 1-45, 1896–1947/8YearGenerating capacity (MW)Annual output (GWh)Connections (MW)19102525.237.4191534.529.546.2192334.549.270.119288979.599.4193489114.1131.7194589103.0127.8 In 1934 Bankside was connected to London ring of the National Grid and became a 'selected' station under the operational control of the Central Electricity Board.
Equipment at Bankside A Following construction of new boiler house in 1921–1928, the steam plant at Bankside A throughout the remainder of its operational life comprised: twelve Babcock 50,000 lb/hr boilers (four oil-fired, eight coal-fired chain grate); four coal-fired Yarrow 65,000 lb/hr boilers; and two coal-fired Yarrow 70,000 lb/hr boilers. The operating pressure was 260 psi at 600-700 °F. The total evaporative capacity was 850,000 lb/hr. Condenser cooling water was drawn from the river Thames through a pump house located on the river bank at 7,800,000 gallons per hour.
At its peak in the 1930s the generating equipment comprised: one 5 MW, five 10 MW, two 15 MW Oerlikon and British Thomson-Houston turbo-alternators, and one Parsons 4 MW house service set (450-500 V), total capacity 89 MW. Some of the older plant was decommissioned. By 1952 the plant comprised one 5 MW and two 10 MW Oerlikon turbo-alternators, two 10 MW and two 15 MW B.T.H. turbo-alternators and one Parsons 4 MW set. These were fed by steam from 18 boilers; twelve Babcock & Wilcox Type C.T.M. each with a capacity of 50 klb/hr at 250 p.s.i. and 606 deg F and six Yarrow boilers of later date (65 and 75 klb/hr) with integral superheaters, Green’s horizontal “ Tri-tube ” economisers, and Yarrow tubular air heaters. The A station was closed down on 24th March to allow completion of Bankside B.
Complaints There were numerous complaints against the power station throughout its operational life. In October 1901 the CLELCo paid the Corporation of Southwark £250 () in settlement of the costs of the corporation taking a smoke nuisance action against the company. In January 1903 the company was fined £20 () plus costs for "creating smoke".London Metropolitan Archives, LMA/4278/01/589, CLELC, Board of Directors Minute Book, minutes dated 30 October 1901 f.33; and minutes dated 21 January 1903, f.133. The CLELCo challenged some of these nuisance actions. In May 1910 an officer of the Public Control Department of the London County Council stated that he had observed black smoke issuing from the centre chimney and "in such volumes as to constitute a nuisance". This was contested by the company which said the information was inaccurate, since this was after sunset "any vapour or gas would assume a dark appearance […] and the absence of light would not ensure accuracy".London Metropolitan Archives, LCC/PC/GEN/01/052, Bankside Generating Station LCC Committee reports and correspondence, Letter from CLELC to the Town Clerk Borough of Southwark dated 17 June 1910.
The London County Council undertook tests to measure the deposition of grit in the area during the summer of 1950. They estimated that up to 235 tons per square mile of grit was deposited in the area from Bankside ‘A’ power station during the month of September 1950.Letter from the Clerk of the LCC to the Town Clerk of the Borough of Southwark dated 18 December 1950. London Metropolitan Archives LCC/PC/GEN/01/052.
Renewal and nationalisation By the late 1930s Bankside was considered inefficient (in 1946 the thermal efficiency was 15.82%), old and polluting. Preliminary plans were drawn up by the CEB for a new power station, Bankside B, but World War II delayed any further redevelopment.
On 1 April 1948 the British electricity industry was nationalised, Bankside was vested in the British Electricity Authority and the electricity distribution system radiating from the power station was vested in the London Electricity Board. Bankside A was decommissioned in March 1959 and was demolished to allow the eastern end of Bankside B to be built.
Bankside B, 1947–1981 The redevelopment of Bankside power station, suspended during the war, was started again by the City of London Electric Lighting Company in 1944. It developed plans for a new power station with an ultimate capacity of 300 MW and submitted these to the planning authority the London County Council in 1944. It was a highly controversial proposal as it continued industrialisation of the South Bank which the 1943 County of London Plan had sought to redevelop with offices, flats and educational and cultural institutions. The new Bankside B power station was approved by the British Cabinet in April 1947. The designation Bankside A and Bankside B was only used when both stations co-existed during the period 1947–1959.
The building was designed by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott, the designer of Liverpool Anglican Cathedral, many of the K-series red telephone boxes, and an important consultant credited with designing the Art-deco exterior of Battersea Power Station. Bankside is a long, 73 m (240 ft) wide, steel framed, brick-clad building with a central chimney high. The chimney's height was less than that of St Paul's Cathedral, which is directly opposite, but set back from, the north bank of the Thames. The plan of the building was divided into three sections—the 85 ft (26 m) high main turbine hall in the centre, with the boiler house to the north and the electricity transformers and switch house to the south. Bankside B was set-back from the riverfront to allow the boulevard proposed in the County of London Plan to be developed at a later date.
Bankside B was designed to be coal-fired but, following a coal and power shortage in early 1947, was redesigned to be oil-fired (the first such power station in Britain). Bunker 'C' oil was delivered by barge from the Shell Haven refinery on the Thames estuary to three large underground tanks to the south of the building. Each tank was 28 m in diameter, 7.3 m high and held 4,000 tons of oil.Brochure, BEA, Bankside Power Station, n.d. but c.1952 The oil consumption of the station at full load was 67 tons per hour.Brochure 'Bankside' Foster Wheeler Limited, not dated
Construction work was undertaken in two phases: 1947–1952 and 1958–1963. This allowed the old Bankside A to continue in operation while the new power station was built. The western half of the building, plus the chimney, was completed first and started generating power in 1952 from four boilers and two 60 MW turbo-alternators. Bankside A was decommissioned in March 1959 and construction started on the eastern portion. This was completed December 1963 and generated electricity from one further boiler, and one 120 MW and one 60 MW turbo-alternator. The maximum total generating capacity of Bankside B was 300 MW.
Equipment at Bankside B The specification of the boiler plant at Bankside B was as follows. +Bankside B boiler plantBrochure CEGB, Bankside Power Station (London, n.d. c.1969) and Brochure CEGB, Bankside Power Station (London, n.d. c.1972ManufacturerFoster WheelerJohn Brown Land (Brown Riley)Commissioned19521963NumberFourOneSteam production (each)375,000 lb/hr860,000 lb/hrPressure950 psi1600 psiTemperature925 °F1005 °FReheatNone377 psi & 1005 °F Condenser cooling water was taken from the River Thames at 10 million gallons per hour (1.07 million m3/day). The temperature rise of the cooling water across the condensers was 15 °F (8.5 °C).
The specification of generating equipment at Bankside B was as follows. +Bankside B generating plantManufacturerBritish Thomson-HoustonAssociated Electrical IndustriesEnglish ElectricNumberTwoOneOneCommissionedNovember 1952 & June 1953late 1962December 1963Rated output60 MW60 MW120 MWSteam conditions at turbine stop valve900 psi, 900 °F915 psi, 900 °F1500 psi, 1000 °FAlternator coolingAir (408 m3/min)HydrogenHydrogenTerminal voltage15 kV13.8 kV The 120 MW turbo-alternator was in the top 20 of the most efficient of UK electricity generators between 1963–73.