Belfast West Power Station
Belfast West Power station in 2005, with the small region at the front the only part still standing today.
In the 1890s, electricity was rapidly being established across Ireland, notably at this time by Belfast and Londonderry City Corporations. Belfast Corporation Electricity Department earned the authority to generate and sell electricity under the provision of the Belfast Electric Lighting Order 1890. Supply co-ordination was assisted by the creation of the Electricity Board in Northern Ireland. This foundation and the permission for Belfast's Electricity Corporation led to three coal-fired generating stations in the city: Belfast East, Belfast West and East Bridge by 1958, all to become operational a year later. Belfast's Corporation wanted to provide electricity for an area of 83 square miles over Northern Ireland's capital. With this report primarily focusing on Belfast West Power Station, we will miss the detailed history on the other two, but reading up on the trio was quite fascinating, so here is a link if you are interested:
https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Northern_Ireland_Electricity
Power Station West costed £15 million to build, holding the status of the largest electrical generating station in Ireland when it opened in 1959. 7000 piles were involved in it's construction. It employed 400 people at once during it's 43 years in use.
Belfast West Power Station boasted five turbo-alternator generating sets: 2 x 30MW Parsons low pressure sets and 3 x 60MW Parsons high pressure sets, giving a total capacity of 240MW, the highest output of the trio. The low pressure sets were supplied with up to a total of 540,000 pounds per hour (68 kg/s) of steam at 650 psi and 925 °F (44.8 bar and 496 °C) from four Clarke Chapman tri-drum coal-fired boilers. The high pressure sets were supplied with steam at 900 psi and 925 °F (62 bar and 496 °C) from three Babcock & Wilcox radiant open pass type coal-fired boilers (each 220,000 lb/hr, 27.7 kg/s) and from six Mitchell two-drum coal-fired boilers (also each 220,000 lb/hr).
600,000 tonnes of coal was burnt annually and four cranes would unload 150 tons of coal every hour. In 1992, the site was bought by NIGEN following the privatisation of all power stations in Ireland, when most were sold off to a range of bidders at the time. Belfast West was decomissioned in 2002 with NIE managing it's demolition, which began to take place in 2006. The flattening process lasted two years, with the three 240ft chimneys permanently removed from the city's skyline at 7pm on Friday 6th July 2007. Since then, the rest of the main building has been erased, except for the small admin block positioned at the front. It is unknown why it has stayed upright, visibly decaying on an active port.
A 2007 photograph of the building during demolition, missing it's three chimneys.
Just thought I'd shove a little of my insight into Ireland on this report, because I've seen past reports encouraging more and more to go, such as @Speed 's asylum roundup. The country is amazing for abandonments and despite there being some decent explorers over there, there is 200% much more to uncover. We weren't here in England during what most consider the prime time for Urbex, but I can imagine Ireland is very similar to an explorer, Facebook and news article lacking country with countless incredible spots waiting to be discovered. There are 10+ abandoned asylums with no coverage, huge in size and with all the potential in the world. On this trip, we attempted some of our leads but also wanted to see some of the stuff we don't see in England that has been cropping up in the last year. Just purely massive buildings filled with decay and zero vandalism, occasional belongings left etc. The sort of thing that would be plopped onto Facebook in hours here and hundreds would flock to, as if it was a slab of meat in a lion cage at the zoo. Our trip was cut short due to the 14 day quarantine business in the Republic, so we will definitely be back. Please make the effort to go. England smells and isn't going to get air freshener treatment any time soon.
All credit to @The Amateur Wanderer who posted this lead in 2016:
https://www.28dayslater.co.uk/threads/belfast-west-power-station.105532/
The thread contained enough information and possibility for me to pin the building for a future trip. It also featured a 20 minute video showing old footage shot during the decommissioning phase of the plant. Having been unable to find many photographs of the control room, turbine hall or boiler house, the video shows it all and is a great watch. In addition, from a 12.45 timestamp, there is a good few minutes showcasing a nice-looking control room as the team shut it down. Watching this a while ago, it wasn't even a consideration that anything interesting would lie within the remainder of the power station. Our luck on these sorts of places with boat loads of potential has never been that good, so we tend to not expect anything. However, after seeing St Loman's Hospital a few days prior on our weeklong Ireland trip and having an all round successful visit to the country, our hopes were up.
On the final day of the trip, we had returned to Belfast in preparation for our ferry back home. After a surprise fail of 1/2 'easy' places to have on the last day, we decided it was port time again. Like other abandoned properties beside the sea in cities we have visited in the past, the laws are different and security is tighter than the average location. It was the middle of a weekday so we branded our usual strategy of hi-vis jackets, walkie-talkies and caps to conceal youth as we passed the security cabin and the gate. Thankfully, the protection was just as lacking as the others, and the gate swiftly raised and we were on our way. Despite Theo and Alex's vehicles seeming out of the ordinary in comparison to the massive lorries and trucks that passed us, we managed to reach the building in no time.
Visible deterioration of the building's exterior shown by foliage developing.
Accessing the property proved to be a lot simpler than we had imagined. It made sense later when we found various construction materials dotted about inside, which leads us to believe that some form of building work is occurring currently, enabling an open door. Slipping into the property quickly to avoid detection, we brushed past the basement filled with humming cables and electric boards, to discover an old staircase. We were captivated to see what lay upwards and as we progressed through the three floors, it kept getting better and better. Ireland trumps all.
Starting on the lower floors. The power functioned in the whole building.
Various workshops and labs. Some components remained in the draws.
A lot of the building was taken up by necessary equipment and I'd estimate 1/3 was probably accessible for people, this being the centre. There was an identical opposing panel on the other side of the block.
Ground floor panel. The tiny one besides it looked much older.
An old sign concealed in shadow.
A room that seems to be used as storage for any dated assets left in the structure. The three photographs of various Irish power stations were very nice.
Close-ups of some of the more interesting items left in the room.
Heading up to the second floor. This dated staircase with an old, broken bannister led the way.
The second floor contained more machinery, old panels and workshops. It kept increasing our hopes as we progressed.
To be continued.
Belfast West Power station in 2005, with the small region at the front the only part still standing today.
In the 1890s, electricity was rapidly being established across Ireland, notably at this time by Belfast and Londonderry City Corporations. Belfast Corporation Electricity Department earned the authority to generate and sell electricity under the provision of the Belfast Electric Lighting Order 1890. Supply co-ordination was assisted by the creation of the Electricity Board in Northern Ireland. This foundation and the permission for Belfast's Electricity Corporation led to three coal-fired generating stations in the city: Belfast East, Belfast West and East Bridge by 1958, all to become operational a year later. Belfast's Corporation wanted to provide electricity for an area of 83 square miles over Northern Ireland's capital. With this report primarily focusing on Belfast West Power Station, we will miss the detailed history on the other two, but reading up on the trio was quite fascinating, so here is a link if you are interested:
https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Northern_Ireland_Electricity
Power Station West costed £15 million to build, holding the status of the largest electrical generating station in Ireland when it opened in 1959. 7000 piles were involved in it's construction. It employed 400 people at once during it's 43 years in use.
Belfast West Power Station boasted five turbo-alternator generating sets: 2 x 30MW Parsons low pressure sets and 3 x 60MW Parsons high pressure sets, giving a total capacity of 240MW, the highest output of the trio. The low pressure sets were supplied with up to a total of 540,000 pounds per hour (68 kg/s) of steam at 650 psi and 925 °F (44.8 bar and 496 °C) from four Clarke Chapman tri-drum coal-fired boilers. The high pressure sets were supplied with steam at 900 psi and 925 °F (62 bar and 496 °C) from three Babcock & Wilcox radiant open pass type coal-fired boilers (each 220,000 lb/hr, 27.7 kg/s) and from six Mitchell two-drum coal-fired boilers (also each 220,000 lb/hr).
600,000 tonnes of coal was burnt annually and four cranes would unload 150 tons of coal every hour. In 1992, the site was bought by NIGEN following the privatisation of all power stations in Ireland, when most were sold off to a range of bidders at the time. Belfast West was decomissioned in 2002 with NIE managing it's demolition, which began to take place in 2006. The flattening process lasted two years, with the three 240ft chimneys permanently removed from the city's skyline at 7pm on Friday 6th July 2007. Since then, the rest of the main building has been erased, except for the small admin block positioned at the front. It is unknown why it has stayed upright, visibly decaying on an active port.
A 2007 photograph of the building during demolition, missing it's three chimneys.
Just thought I'd shove a little of my insight into Ireland on this report, because I've seen past reports encouraging more and more to go, such as @Speed 's asylum roundup. The country is amazing for abandonments and despite there being some decent explorers over there, there is 200% much more to uncover. We weren't here in England during what most consider the prime time for Urbex, but I can imagine Ireland is very similar to an explorer, Facebook and news article lacking country with countless incredible spots waiting to be discovered. There are 10+ abandoned asylums with no coverage, huge in size and with all the potential in the world. On this trip, we attempted some of our leads but also wanted to see some of the stuff we don't see in England that has been cropping up in the last year. Just purely massive buildings filled with decay and zero vandalism, occasional belongings left etc. The sort of thing that would be plopped onto Facebook in hours here and hundreds would flock to, as if it was a slab of meat in a lion cage at the zoo. Our trip was cut short due to the 14 day quarantine business in the Republic, so we will definitely be back. Please make the effort to go. England smells and isn't going to get air freshener treatment any time soon.
All credit to @The Amateur Wanderer who posted this lead in 2016:
https://www.28dayslater.co.uk/threads/belfast-west-power-station.105532/
The thread contained enough information and possibility for me to pin the building for a future trip. It also featured a 20 minute video showing old footage shot during the decommissioning phase of the plant. Having been unable to find many photographs of the control room, turbine hall or boiler house, the video shows it all and is a great watch. In addition, from a 12.45 timestamp, there is a good few minutes showcasing a nice-looking control room as the team shut it down. Watching this a while ago, it wasn't even a consideration that anything interesting would lie within the remainder of the power station. Our luck on these sorts of places with boat loads of potential has never been that good, so we tend to not expect anything. However, after seeing St Loman's Hospital a few days prior on our weeklong Ireland trip and having an all round successful visit to the country, our hopes were up.
On the final day of the trip, we had returned to Belfast in preparation for our ferry back home. After a surprise fail of 1/2 'easy' places to have on the last day, we decided it was port time again. Like other abandoned properties beside the sea in cities we have visited in the past, the laws are different and security is tighter than the average location. It was the middle of a weekday so we branded our usual strategy of hi-vis jackets, walkie-talkies and caps to conceal youth as we passed the security cabin and the gate. Thankfully, the protection was just as lacking as the others, and the gate swiftly raised and we were on our way. Despite Theo and Alex's vehicles seeming out of the ordinary in comparison to the massive lorries and trucks that passed us, we managed to reach the building in no time.
Visible deterioration of the building's exterior shown by foliage developing.
Accessing the property proved to be a lot simpler than we had imagined. It made sense later when we found various construction materials dotted about inside, which leads us to believe that some form of building work is occurring currently, enabling an open door. Slipping into the property quickly to avoid detection, we brushed past the basement filled with humming cables and electric boards, to discover an old staircase. We were captivated to see what lay upwards and as we progressed through the three floors, it kept getting better and better. Ireland trumps all.
Starting on the lower floors. The power functioned in the whole building.
Various workshops and labs. Some components remained in the draws.
A lot of the building was taken up by necessary equipment and I'd estimate 1/3 was probably accessible for people, this being the centre. There was an identical opposing panel on the other side of the block.
Ground floor panel. The tiny one besides it looked much older.
An old sign concealed in shadow.
A room that seems to be used as storage for any dated assets left in the structure. The three photographs of various Irish power stations were very nice.
Close-ups of some of the more interesting items left in the room.
Heading up to the second floor. This dated staircase with an old, broken bannister led the way.
The second floor contained more machinery, old panels and workshops. It kept increasing our hopes as we progressed.
To be continued.
:
