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Report - - Derwent & Spondon H (Celanese) Power Station | Industrial Sites | 28DaysLater.co.uk

Report - Derwent & Spondon H (Celanese) Power Station

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Exploring with Andy

Behind Closed Doors
Staff member
Moderator
Been wanting this place ever since the first time we visited Celanese - glad to have finally cracked it. Visited with Spider Monkey.

History

Derwent Power Station was built as a Combined Heat and Power Plant to supply both electricity and steam to the neighbouring British Celanese chemical factory. The plant had a capacity of 241 MW, around 50 MW of which was supplied to the National Grid.

Derwent Power Station is the third plant to inhabit the site. The original plant, Spondon A Power Station, was built in the 1920s. An additional station, Spondon H was built in 1959 along side the existing plant. The station had a capacity of 30 MW and was primarily designed to produce steam for the Celanese plant. Spondon A was closed in the early 1980s.

Derwent Power Station opened in 1995 when four General Electric gas turbines were erected on adjacent land. The gas turbines were capable of producing enough steam to not only supply the Celanese plant, but also drive the three turbines of Spondon H. As a result, the coal fired boilers of Spondon H were taken offline and decommissioned, but the existing turbines were retained.

1.Derwent Power Station.
derwent-power-station-spondon-27.jpg

Closure of Celanese and Derwent Power Plant

The closure of the British Celanese factory spelled the end for Derwent Power Station and Spondon H's turbines. The majority of the power produced by the plant was supplied directly to the factory, along with the steam. High prices for gas meant gas-fired stations supplying the National Grid were being taken offline, so retention as a supplier for residential use was not an option. The station closed in 2012 along with the Celanese plant.

Derwent Power Station
Derwent Power Station is the newest part of the site - a gas fired plant which supplied steam to Celanese and the turbines of Spondon H.

2. Welcome...
derwent-power-station-spondon-33.jpg


3. Symmetry.
derwent-power-station-spondon-32.jpg


4. Pipes.
derwent-power-station-spondon-28.jpg


5. Between Gas Units 1 & 2.
derwent-power-station-spondon-29.jpg


6. The belly of the beast.
derwent-power-station-spondon-31.jpg


Spondon H Boiler House
The boiler house of Spondon H was decommissioned when the Derwent gas plant was built. As a result there is quite a bit of decay in here.

7. Derpy boiler house.
derwent-power-station-spondon-2.jpg


8. Switchgear.
derwent-power-station-spondon-3.jpg


9. English Electric.
derwent-power-station-spondon-4.jpg


10. Coal loader level.
derwent-power-station-spondon-5.jpg


11 & 12.
derwent-power-station-spondon-1.jpg


13. Between the coal chutes.
derwent-power-station-spondon-9.jpg


14. Coal Conveyors.
derwent-power-station-spondon-11.jpg


15. Vertigo.
derwent-power-station-spondon-8.jpg


16. Boilers.
derwent-power-station-spondon-10.jpg


17. Base of the boiler house.
derwent-power-station-spondon-21.jpg


18. Boiler door.
derwent-power-station-spondon-22.jpg


19. Steam pipes
derwent-power-station-spondon-23.jpg


Spondon H Turbine Hall and Control Room
Although originally built along with the boiler house, the turbines were in use until the power station closed, so are in much better condition than the boiler house.

20. Turbine.
derwent-power-station-spondon-15.jpg


21. Turbine.
derwent-power-station-spondon-16.jpg


22. Turbine.
derwent-power-station-spondon-25.jpg


23. Turbine Hall.
derwent-power-station-spondon-26.jpg


24. Steam pipes in turbine hall.
derwent-power-station-spondon-13.jpg


25. Turbine hall from above.
derwent-power-station-spondon-24.jpg


26. Inside the turbine enclosure.
derwent-power-station-spondon-35.jpg


27. Metropolitan Vickers generator.
derwent-power-station-spondon-40.jpg


28. Metropolitan Vickers detail.
derwent-power-station-spondon-37.jpg


29. Control room.
derwent-power-station-spondon-41.jpg


30. Control room
derwent-power-station-spondon-42.jpg
 
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Exploring with Andy

Behind Closed Doors
Staff member
Moderator
Thanks for those! Such an arse that they have those sound deadning enclosures on but you make it look a decent explore none the less.
Thanks. Yes shame about them, bit that makes it what it is. It was the combination of old and newer that made this explore for me.

One question though: alarms?!
Had some luck with the bells then??
Let me tell you, that alarm is definitely still very active... but also surprisingly easy to avoid! ;)
 

drhowser

Bespectacled & irrelevant
Regular User
That's as good as I'd hoped it would be. It's always really bothered me that I've not been able to go back.

Did you go inside at Derwent? We walked into the control room and the TV was on with no sign of whoever was watching it.

:thumb Well done having the balls to do this while everyone else sits about moaning about nobody doing it ;)

And the pics are great as well . Very impressive mate

It does get tedious when people just moan all the time, doesn't it..
 
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