The History
The Ironbridge power stations (also known as the Buildwas power stations) refer to a series of two power stations which have occupied a site on the banks of the River Severn at Buildwas in Shropshire, England. The Ironbridge B Power Station was operated by E.ON UK. The station stands near the Ironbridge Gorge World Heritage Site, where the Industrial Revolution began. Originally powered by coal, they were converted to use 100% biomass fuel. Ironbridge B Power Station stopped generating electricity on 20 November 2015, with the decommissioning process expected to continue into 2017.
Ironbridge was selected to be the site of a large, modern "superstation" by the West Midlands Joint Electricity Authority, in February 1927. The land had been identified earlier by Walsall Borough as being suitable for power generation, in 1924.The close proximity of the River Severn and several railway lines provided excellent access to both cooling water and a source for the delivery of coal. The flat land of the site, formed by fluvial processes at the end of the last ice-age, was ideal for the construction of a large turbine hall.
Parliamentary approval for Ironbridge B Power Station was sought and granted in 1962. Construction began in 1963, with the aim to begin generating electricity in the station in 1967. Due to construction delays, some limited industrial action and the implementation of improvements that had been pioneered during the construction of similar stations using the new 500 MW generating units, Ironbridge B didn't begin feeding power into the National Grid until the 11 June 1969. Full capacity was not reached until the second 500 MW unit began generating in February 1970.Ironbridge B Power Station stopped generating electricity on 20 November 2015 when it reached its 20,000 hours limit of generation under an EU directive, the decommissioning process is expected to continue into 2017.
The Explore
It’s all @Bigjobs fault, He got us drunk on a mountain side and “loosely advised” us on how to get in.
And that’s how it started…….
Heading back from The rope meet, myself, @slayaaaa, @Adders and @Anorak all suffering from immense hangovers decided to head to Ironbridge as it was sort of on the way home…. Ish… kinda… erm not really….
Over this, under that, not going under that again and we were up a few ladders and inside. After meandering threw a few pipes and a few gantries we found the golden egg.
Turbinezzzzzz
Wow!!
Such an awesome sight to behold, even though the place had been on fire there was very little sign of damage. Until we got up close and personal with the turbine that had been on fire.
Now turbines are all well and good and I love them but the control rooms are for me where it’s really happening.
Control room, a little on the modern side but still really really nice. The door opened and we were inside. A few of the screens had been turned off but it was still nice to see.
Outside the control room was one of the old type desks that had been in the control room and reminded me of the desks at the old tilbury station.
In total we spent around 5 hours in here and didn’t see a single sign of security
As always enjoy the pics J
The Ironbridge power stations (also known as the Buildwas power stations) refer to a series of two power stations which have occupied a site on the banks of the River Severn at Buildwas in Shropshire, England. The Ironbridge B Power Station was operated by E.ON UK. The station stands near the Ironbridge Gorge World Heritage Site, where the Industrial Revolution began. Originally powered by coal, they were converted to use 100% biomass fuel. Ironbridge B Power Station stopped generating electricity on 20 November 2015, with the decommissioning process expected to continue into 2017.
Ironbridge was selected to be the site of a large, modern "superstation" by the West Midlands Joint Electricity Authority, in February 1927. The land had been identified earlier by Walsall Borough as being suitable for power generation, in 1924.The close proximity of the River Severn and several railway lines provided excellent access to both cooling water and a source for the delivery of coal. The flat land of the site, formed by fluvial processes at the end of the last ice-age, was ideal for the construction of a large turbine hall.
Parliamentary approval for Ironbridge B Power Station was sought and granted in 1962. Construction began in 1963, with the aim to begin generating electricity in the station in 1967. Due to construction delays, some limited industrial action and the implementation of improvements that had been pioneered during the construction of similar stations using the new 500 MW generating units, Ironbridge B didn't begin feeding power into the National Grid until the 11 June 1969. Full capacity was not reached until the second 500 MW unit began generating in February 1970.Ironbridge B Power Station stopped generating electricity on 20 November 2015 when it reached its 20,000 hours limit of generation under an EU directive, the decommissioning process is expected to continue into 2017.
The Explore
It’s all @Bigjobs fault, He got us drunk on a mountain side and “loosely advised” us on how to get in.
And that’s how it started…….
Heading back from The rope meet, myself, @slayaaaa, @Adders and @Anorak all suffering from immense hangovers decided to head to Ironbridge as it was sort of on the way home…. Ish… kinda… erm not really….
Over this, under that, not going under that again and we were up a few ladders and inside. After meandering threw a few pipes and a few gantries we found the golden egg.
Turbinezzzzzz
Wow!!
Such an awesome sight to behold, even though the place had been on fire there was very little sign of damage. Until we got up close and personal with the turbine that had been on fire.
Now turbines are all well and good and I love them but the control rooms are for me where it’s really happening.
Control room, a little on the modern side but still really really nice. The door opened and we were inside. A few of the screens had been turned off but it was still nice to see.
Outside the control room was one of the old type desks that had been in the control room and reminded me of the desks at the old tilbury station.
In total we spent around 5 hours in here and didn’t see a single sign of security
As always enjoy the pics J
