Rugeley 'B' Power Station - December 2016
Introduction:
Visited with @Raz
Rugeley, yet another fine example of British Industry laid to waste in the past couple of years. It's hard to believe that we're witnessing the destruction of anything and everything that's coal related in this country, it's a sad time to live in but from the point of view of an enthusiast such as myself a pretty exciting one too.
I was pretty excited to get over and check Rugeley out although slightly unsure what to expect in terms of how modern the station would look inside due to the amount of modernization work that's taken place on site coupled with the fact that it's a good few years younger than any other station I've done barring Redcar and Drax. Hopefully it wouldn't be too devoid of any real character like most the modern stations are in my opinion having been recently spoiled with Ferry C and Ironbridge B, both of which still seem to have that early CEGB feel.
As it happens I think Rugeley has been one of my favorites so far, it's certainly not lacking in the character department anyway as you'll see from the pictures.
History:
Rugeley 'B' Power Station is one of the many power stations which over the years have fed from the River Trent. With it's closure on the 8th of June 2016 it leaves behind just two other Trent Valley Stations, West Burton and Cottam.
The construction of Rugeley 'B' began in 1965, the same year that Ferrybridge 'C' the first 2000MW Station was undergoing steam tests to be put onto the grid to put the age of the stations into perspective. Rugeley 'B' was commissioned in 1970 with a nameplate capacity of 1000MW, this capacity was made up from two Parsons 500MW turbo-generator units. These units are referred to as units 6 & 7 due to a further 5 units been in operation in the older 'A' Station. Rugeley 'B' was also complemented with two 25MW English Electric generators powered by a pair of Rolls Royce Avon gas turbines, the very same ones used in the famous English Electric Lightening Fighter Interceptor of the 50's. These two Gas Turbines could generate onto the grid independently or be used to raise the grid frequency in the event of an emergency requiring a black start.
In the 90's the original control room was stripped out and replaced by a more modern computerized version, and in 2007 the construction of the FGD (Flue Gas Depressurization) unit and new stack began, it was at this time that the original chimney was also demolished. Plans for a conversion to biomass were talked about but never went ahead which is good from a photographers point of view (PROPER MILLS) but rather sad when you think the station could maybe still be generating had the work gone ahead.
The decommissioning process is well underway now sadly and is going head at a much faster rate than expected, unit 6's turbine has already been stripped!
Pictures:
Let's get started then shall we? Weaving through the cooling towers on the approach to the station.
Might as well start in the Boiler House with the Mills. I'm sure most of you know the drill by now, but in case you don't it's these mills that grind the coal dropped from the bunkers into a fine powder which is then blown into the boilers to be burnt.
Just above the mill bay are the roller seal air fans
and the hoppers which feed into the mills.
Obviously there's much more to see and do in the boiler house, but we've already seen pretty good coverage from this area in Andy K and Nate's reports.
Maybe it's time to check out the Gas Turbines? Hmmm
It's a shame about all the oil barrels getting in the way, but still, those two 25MW EE Units powered by the two Mighty Rolls Royce Avons.
English Electric beauty, to be honest, I think we both found these more aesthetically pleasing that the 500MW units next door...
Awesome.
We took a quick look inside the Workshops too, would have been nice to spend a little longer in here but it was a little sketchy...
The usual machinery, lathes, drills etc...
A series of images showing the two main stacks been demolished at Rugeley 'A' above an engineers work bench.
Moving onto to the turbine hall.
Which I think is one of the nicest big ones I've seen, it's amazing what a chequered floor and a few big painted signs can do to change your opinion of a place
Boiler Feed Pump Turbine
Boiler Feed Pump Starter.
Generator Transformer Oil Coolers
Condenser Coolers
One big ole' chunk of condenser
Up on the gantry crane
Moving up to take a look at the actual turbine.
Stripped Unit 6 looking toward the generator sat on it's own!
Generators.
These where the pictures I had visualized before the trip.
And finally the control room, it's not the best one you'll ever see but have a few pics for completion.
Station Electrical Services panel, one of two old school ones that remain
Some live screens still switched on...
And I think I'll call it at that, it's not a bad coverage of the station, we never made it up to the bunkers and we didn't fancy pushing our luck with the admin block just yet, maybe the next lot will be up to it?
Thanks for reading
TAW
Introduction:
Visited with @Raz
Rugeley, yet another fine example of British Industry laid to waste in the past couple of years. It's hard to believe that we're witnessing the destruction of anything and everything that's coal related in this country, it's a sad time to live in but from the point of view of an enthusiast such as myself a pretty exciting one too.
I was pretty excited to get over and check Rugeley out although slightly unsure what to expect in terms of how modern the station would look inside due to the amount of modernization work that's taken place on site coupled with the fact that it's a good few years younger than any other station I've done barring Redcar and Drax. Hopefully it wouldn't be too devoid of any real character like most the modern stations are in my opinion having been recently spoiled with Ferry C and Ironbridge B, both of which still seem to have that early CEGB feel.
As it happens I think Rugeley has been one of my favorites so far, it's certainly not lacking in the character department anyway as you'll see from the pictures.
History:
Rugeley 'B' Power Station is one of the many power stations which over the years have fed from the River Trent. With it's closure on the 8th of June 2016 it leaves behind just two other Trent Valley Stations, West Burton and Cottam.
The construction of Rugeley 'B' began in 1965, the same year that Ferrybridge 'C' the first 2000MW Station was undergoing steam tests to be put onto the grid to put the age of the stations into perspective. Rugeley 'B' was commissioned in 1970 with a nameplate capacity of 1000MW, this capacity was made up from two Parsons 500MW turbo-generator units. These units are referred to as units 6 & 7 due to a further 5 units been in operation in the older 'A' Station. Rugeley 'B' was also complemented with two 25MW English Electric generators powered by a pair of Rolls Royce Avon gas turbines, the very same ones used in the famous English Electric Lightening Fighter Interceptor of the 50's. These two Gas Turbines could generate onto the grid independently or be used to raise the grid frequency in the event of an emergency requiring a black start.
In the 90's the original control room was stripped out and replaced by a more modern computerized version, and in 2007 the construction of the FGD (Flue Gas Depressurization) unit and new stack began, it was at this time that the original chimney was also demolished. Plans for a conversion to biomass were talked about but never went ahead which is good from a photographers point of view (PROPER MILLS) but rather sad when you think the station could maybe still be generating had the work gone ahead.
The decommissioning process is well underway now sadly and is going head at a much faster rate than expected, unit 6's turbine has already been stripped!
Pictures:
Let's get started then shall we? Weaving through the cooling towers on the approach to the station.
Might as well start in the Boiler House with the Mills. I'm sure most of you know the drill by now, but in case you don't it's these mills that grind the coal dropped from the bunkers into a fine powder which is then blown into the boilers to be burnt.
Just above the mill bay are the roller seal air fans
and the hoppers which feed into the mills.
Obviously there's much more to see and do in the boiler house, but we've already seen pretty good coverage from this area in Andy K and Nate's reports.
Maybe it's time to check out the Gas Turbines? Hmmm
It's a shame about all the oil barrels getting in the way, but still, those two 25MW EE Units powered by the two Mighty Rolls Royce Avons.
English Electric beauty, to be honest, I think we both found these more aesthetically pleasing that the 500MW units next door...
Awesome.
We took a quick look inside the Workshops too, would have been nice to spend a little longer in here but it was a little sketchy...
The usual machinery, lathes, drills etc...
A series of images showing the two main stacks been demolished at Rugeley 'A' above an engineers work bench.
Moving onto to the turbine hall.
Which I think is one of the nicest big ones I've seen, it's amazing what a chequered floor and a few big painted signs can do to change your opinion of a place
Boiler Feed Pump Turbine
Boiler Feed Pump Starter.
Generator Transformer Oil Coolers
Condenser Coolers
One big ole' chunk of condenser
Up on the gantry crane
Moving up to take a look at the actual turbine.
Stripped Unit 6 looking toward the generator sat on it's own!
Generators.
These where the pictures I had visualized before the trip.
And finally the control room, it's not the best one you'll ever see but have a few pics for completion.
Station Electrical Services panel, one of two old school ones that remain
Some live screens still switched on...
And I think I'll call it at that, it's not a bad coverage of the station, we never made it up to the bunkers and we didn't fancy pushing our luck with the admin block just yet, maybe the next lot will be up to it?
Thanks for reading
TAW
Last edited:
