Report - Fawley Power Station, Hampshire - 2014.

[Ojay]

Fawley Powerstation

Located on the Western shore of Southampton water, the station began operation in 1972 and closed in March 2013

Fawley was the 5th of 13 huge power stations commissioned by the Central Electricity Generating Board in the late 1960's

The vast expansion of generating power demonstrating the pinnacle of nationalised industry in England

It was one of the most efficient oil fired power stations in the UK

With a capacity to generate 1,000MW of electricity for the National Grid System

Fawley operated as an opted out station under the Large Combustion Plant Directive

Thus, meaning it had 10,000 hours to operate between 1 January 2008 and 31 December 2015

Although the main units at this power station have closed as a result of the LCPD,
the station retained 70 MW of existing open cycle gas turbine generation


Fawley had been chosen to be the control centre for many of the company’s open cycle gas turbines,
including those at the power station itself

“RWE will operate over 400MW of back-up electricity across the UK – providing additional support to the National Grid”

The site was being de-commissioned when we visited, but still nice to see those Parsons still in situ

It was un-chartered territory at the time, it wasn't the first and certainly wasn't the last either

However in the long run props to fb and Co. for persevering with LCPD bingo


Hand held running amongst some of the more interesting industrial sites this country has managed to cling onto, sure provided for some lulZ last year

Pretty sure keitei & Gaj would agree with the results after the fuss we went through with these lively derps..

I might post a few more up soon..

Of course there was a bit more going on at these sites than some of my crappy pics represent

I've probably got more video, and one day will stick that lot up too


Once in we headed up high to assess the situation

But more to the point I wanted to lick those marine grade windows in the boiler house

Yummy, and there was more to come


No apologies for the following monstrosities, better to walk away with some shitty pics and memories IMO

Wot no control room you might say ?

Well considering it's used to control the gas turbines on site and also Didcot B & Cowes on the Isle of Wight
we thought it might be worth a look in

Unfortunatley for us, hi-viz showed up for his midnight vending machine feast, so we were forced to move on

It's easy enough to do, just we ran out of time and almost into security on the way out
Thanks for looking ​

 

[GAJ]

Good stuff dude & these were pretty fun to do. So much so none of my pictures could ever tell the story quite how it happened.

From nearly drowning in what must be the only 3ft deep swamp in Hampshire, to having the secca stop his vehicle with us 3 bang in view about 20ft away but not seeing us, this was a pretty amazing night out. The windows in this place are worth the trip alone so go have a look if you're nearby as you can almost walk around the whole perimeter along the water

Cracking stuff dude, & I can't wait for the ultimate 'How the fuck did we get away with that' installment

 

[Ojay]

Cracking stuff dude, & I can't wait for the ultimate 'How the fuck did we get away with that' instalment

Me neither, was comedy gold that!

 

[Speed]

On the list! Good to see a few more photos of it even if they are crooked and blurred. :P

 

[JuJu]

nicely done, nice reminder of growing up around the area, would pop in if i were down there more

 

[Oxygen Thief]

It is an amazing place, spent many hours in there 'on business' just poking about.

Never saw the control room, although I've been in the old canteen below it.

Would be good to get in the power tunnel.

Did you know the whole South side of it opens up on a cantilever to allow for access to the dock?

 

[GAJ]

That's where we ran in to the basement level I think. Remember reading about it before going but in the action on the night I certainly didn't think twice about stopping for a look. The whole building is pretty damn impressive with all that glass so even if you look at it from outside it's a good one.
Funny you mention the canteen, ust as we were popping for a look at the control room the secca popped in there to use the vending machine, talk about bad timing. Not sure if it was a good idea anyway as it's pretty active as a remote site from what we could gather.