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Megawatt Valley

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Coordinates: 53°00′N 1°00′W / 53.0°N 1.0°W / 53.0; -1.0
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West Burton (left) and Cottam (right) power stations seen from Gringley on the Hill.

Megawatt Valley is a term applied to a geographic location which houses a large number of electricity generating stations. Historically in the United Kingdom this applied to the coal-fired power stations of the lower Trent Valley. In the mid-1980s, the valley's 13 facilities generated up to a quarter of the power demand for England and Wales. A shift to gas-fired power stations saw many of the Megawatt Valley facilities close down. The term was then associated with an area of Yorkshire centred on the River Aire that was home to Ferrybridge C, Eggborough and Drax power stations. Of these facilities only Drax remains in operation. In the United States the term has been applied to an area of West Virginia, home to five power stations.

Trent Valley

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Power in Trust sculpture at Staythorpe Power Station
What remains of Megawatt Valley: the disused and part-demolished West Burton and Cottam Power Stations, described as "Beacons in North Nottinghamshire's Skyline" by EDF, can be seen here, as viewed from Ossington, approximately 13 miles away as the crow flies. Out of frame, to the right, the closer High Marnham Power Station was once even more prominent before its demolition. The two power stations in shot will follow in its footsteps in the coming 4 years. (Taken 2024/03/30)
West Burton and Cottam Power Stations viewed from Ossington

Megawatt Valley was a term originally applied to the Trent Valley.[1] The area was developed in the 1960s by the nationalised Central Electricity Generating Board (CEGB).[2] Many coal power stations were constructed on or near the banks of the River Trent and a major overhead power line network was constructed to supply Southern England.[2][3] This construction coincided with a move by CEGB to shift the location of power generation from smaller city-based power stations to rural locations. These were more efficient as they could be larger, closer to fuel sources and cooling water supplies. The Trent Valley was ideal due its proximity to the Nottinghamshire and Yorkshire coal fields and ready supply of water from the Trent.[3]

Power stations in Megawatt Valley included High Marnham in Nottinghamshire which, at 1000MW, was the largest power station in Europe when it was opened in October 1962, and was fed by 17 different collieries.[4] In 1986 the valley was home to 13 of the 78 power stations in England and Wales and was responsible for up to a quarter of all electricity generated.[5][6] This was the largest concentration of power generation in Europe.[3] It was said that by the late 1960s the waters of the Trent were noticeably warmer than those of comparable rivers owing to heat transfer from the cooling water.[7]

The sculpture Power in Trust by Norman Sillman, made to represent a hand made from boiler pipes and a turbine, was commissioned in 1961 for the opening of Staythorpe B Power Station.[8] It remains on the site of the former coal-fired power station and has been described as a monument to the pioneers of Megawatt Valley.[6] The five surviving cooling towers at the long-closed Willington Power Station were preserved from demolition due to the presence of nesting birds. They remain a notable landmark to travellers along the Trent and have been cited as a monument to the importance of the Trent to Megawatt Valley.[9]

A 1989 paper written by the Chairman of East Midlands Electricity, then on the brink of privatisation, stated that until that point British electricity generation had relied on large-scale coal plant as seen at Megawatt Valley. He provided a vision of the future where generation moved away from coal to cheaper means, such as gas.[10] This switch began to be made in the 1990s, during the so-called Dash for Gas, and led to the closure of many coal-fired plants, including those in Megawatt Valley.[11] Ratcliffe-on-Soar was the last of the coal-fired stations of Megawatt valley, closing in 2024.[12] [13]These plants had flue-gas desulphurisation units which supplied gypsum for plasterboard manufacture.[14] The pulverised fly ash (PFA) generated by the power stations was, until the 1980s, used to fill the majority of sand and gravel workings in the Trent Valley. This practice reduced following the wider use of fly ash in manufacture and the closure of Megawatt Valley power stations.[15]

There remains a concern amongst some residents that the old coal power stations will be replaced by other forms of generation such as wind turbines and that Megawatt Valley will continue to be viewed as a place where visual intrusion by energy assets is acceptable.[16]

List of coal power stations in the lower Trent Valley

[edit]
Megawatt Valley is located in Trent Valley
Stoke
Stoke
Meaford
Meaford
Rugeley
Rugeley
Burton
Burton
Drakelow
Drakelow
Willington
Willington
Castle Donington
Castle Donington
Ratcliffe-on-Soar
Ratcliffe-on-Soar
Wilford
Wilford
Staythorpe
Staythorpe
High Marnham
High Marnham
Cottam
Cottam
West Burton
West Burton
Keadby
Keadby
Ferrybridge
Ferrybridge
Eggborough
Eggborough
Drax
Drax
Sheffield
Sheffield
Derby
Derby
Birmingham
Birmingham
Peterborough
Peterborough
Hull
Hull
Leeds
Leeds
Stoke-on-Trent
Stoke-on-Trent
Manchester
Manchester
Nottingham
Nottingham
Leicester
Leicester
class=notpageimage|
Current Trent Valley power stations
Former Trent Valley power stations
Yorkshire power stations
Cities

Richard Stone, in his book The River Trent (2005), provides the limits of Megawatt Valley as Meaford – near Stone, Staffordshire – at the upstream end and Keadby – near Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire at the downstream end. This includes the following coal-fired power stations – some of these sites have had gas-fired units installed, these are not listed.[17]

Staffordshire

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Derbyshire

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Leicestershire

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Nottinghamshire

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Lincolnshire

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Upstream of Richard Stone's geographical limit at Meaford was the 31 MW Stoke-on-Trent power station (1913–1960s), located adjacent to the river Trent.[41]

Cooling water abstraction

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With a series of power stations each abstracting cooling water and returning warm water to the river the impact on the ecology of the Trent could be significant. At Castle Donington Power Station, the average increase in river temperatures was 7°C (maximum temperature increase 12 °C, minimum 4 °C).[42] Cooling towers were used to dissipate the heat load and reduced the reliance on river water. The table illustrates the cooling water requirements of some of the Trent Valley power stations. [43] [44] [45]

Trent Valley power stations: generating capacity and cooling requirements
Power station Generating capacity, MW Water abstracted Number of cooling towers Distance to next downstream power station, km
mgph m3/sec
Meaford A, B 120 + 240 15.05 19 2 (each 2.8 mgph) + 3 (each 3.15 mgph) 26.0
Rugeley A, B 600 + 480 18 22.74 4 + 1 (3.6 mgph Heller dry tower)[46] 20.0
Drakelow A, B, C 244 + 480 + 1,268 8 10.11 1 + 3 12.9
Willington A, B 416 + 400 16.5 20.83 2 + 3 12.9
Castle Donington 627 25 31.58 4 14.9
Ratcliffe-on-Soar 2,000 1.53 1.93 8 6.0
Wilford (Nottingham) 308 10 12.63 None 33.8
Staythorpe A, B 360 + 360 23 29.05 1 20.0
High Marnham 1,000 27 34.11 5 9
Cottam 1,597 1.04 1.32 8 10
West Burton 2,000 2.4 3.03 8 28
Keadby 336 9.02 11.4 None —

Notes

  • mgph = million imperial gallons per hour.
  • Below Cromwell Lock and weir the River Trent is tidal. High Marnham, Cottam, West Burton and Keadby power stations abstract brackish and seawater from the tidal river.
  • Ratcliffe-on-Soar, Cottam and West Burton only abstracted make-up water to their cooling systems, to compensate for water lost as vapour from the cooling towers, and for blowdown to prevent build up of impurities. A 1,000 MW station requires about 44.4 m3/s of cooling water for a non-recirculating system, or 0.56 m3/s of make-up water for a recirculating cooling tower system.[46]
  • For context, the average flowrate of the Trent at Newark (just downstream of Staythorpe) is 70 mgph (88.4 m3/s) and the minimum flow is 10 mgph (12.63 m3/s).[43]

Later use of the term

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Ferrybridge, Eggborough and Drax power stations visible on the horizon

After many of the Trent Valley power stations closed the epithet Megawatt Valley began to be used for a section of Yorkshire between Leeds, York and Doncaster. This was due to the presence of Ferrybridge C (1966–2016), Eggborough (1967–2018) and Drax (1974–) coal-fired power stations.[47] This was one of the few remaining concentrations of coal-fired generation in the UK; the power stations being located close to historic coal-mining sites on the South Yorkshire Coalfield and to the River Aire.[48] Drax is a large power station capable of generating 7% of UK electricity demand[citation needed] and, despite being the UK's cleanest and most-efficient coal-fired power station before it was converted to biomass, was Europe's biggest single source of carbon dioxide emissions.[49] The term Megawatt Valley, in relation to the Yorkshire power stations, has been mentioned ("What ever happened to The Megawatt Valley? It pumped out the sounds to the avenues and alleys") in the song Two Lane Texaco by the folk band My Darling Clementine.[50]

The term has also been used in reference to a location in West Virginia, United States, where five plants are located, totalling some 6000 megawatts of generating capacity. This includes the Mountaineer Power Plant, in Mason County and four nearby plants.[51]

References

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  1. ^ Fort, Tom (2008). Downstream. Century. p. 99. ISBN 9781846051692.
  2. ^ a b "Engineering Design for Sustainable Development". Centre for Applied Research in Educational Technologies. University of Cambridge. Archived from the original on 26 May 2003. Retrieved 21 October 2017.
  3. ^ a b c 20th-Century Coaland Oil-Fired Electric Power Generation: Introductions to Heritage Assets. Historic England. June 2015. p. 8.
  4. ^ 20th-Century Coaland Oil-Fired Electric Power Generation: Introductions to Heritage Assets. Historic England. June 2015. p. 7.
  5. ^ The East Midland Geographer. Department of Geography, University of Nottingham. 1986. p. 30.
  6. ^ a b "Crossing England in a Punt: River of Dreams". BBC Four. Retrieved 21 October 2017.
  7. ^ Your Environment – No.1 Winter 69. 1970. p. 15.
  8. ^ "RWE npower – who we are" (PDF). npower. Retrieved 18 February 2020.
  9. ^ Hewitt, Tony A. J. (2015). River Trent: From Source to Sea. Amberley Publishing Limited. ISBN 9781445649986.
  10. ^ Andrews, S; Harris, J F; Morgan, R; Robinson, C. "Prospects for Independent Power Generation" (PDF). Surrey Energy Economics Centre. p. 14.
  11. ^ Osborne, Hilary (28 March 2007). "Emissions from UK power stations soar". The Guardian.
  12. ^ "Countdown to 2025: Tracking the UK coal phase out". Carbon Brief. 10 February 2016. Retrieved 24 October 2017.
  13. ^ Ambrose, Jillian (2024-09-29). "End of an era as Britain's last coal-fired power plant shuts down". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2024-09-30.
  14. ^ Stone, Richard (2005). The River Trent. Chichester, West Sussex: Phillimore. p. 122. ISBN 1-86077-356-7.
  15. ^ "Supplementary Planning Guidance on the After-use of Sand and Gravel Sites in the Trent, Lower Derwent and Lower Dove Valleys" (PDF). Derbyshire County Council. December 2004. p. 9. Retrieved 5 July 2022.
  16. ^ "Planning Committee Minutes 5 August 2014" (PDF). Newark and Sherwood District Council.
  17. ^ Stone, Richard (2005). The River Trent. Chichester, West Sussex: Phillimore. pp. 121–122. ISBN 1-86077-356-7.
  18. ^ The Engineer. Morgan-Grampian (Publishers). 1957. p. 533.
  19. ^ a b "The Meaford Energy (Gas Fired Power Station) Order – 6.4.8 Volume 4: Environmental Statement Appendix 13.6: Geo-environmental Desk Study" (PDF). National Infrastructure Planning Inspectorate. Meaford Energy Centre. Retrieved 24 October 2017.
  20. ^ a b c Edgar, Gordon (2017). Industrial Locomotives & Railways of The Midlands. Amberley Publishing. ISBN 9781445649351.
  21. ^ "Rugeley Power Station to close in June". BBC News. 21 May 2016. Retrieved 7 September 2020.
  22. ^ Garrett, Frederick C. (1959). Garcke's Manual of Electricity Supply vol. 56. London: Electrical Press. pp. A-40-41.
  23. ^ a b c "South Derbyshire Local Plan Part 2" (PDF). South Derbyshire District Council.
  24. ^ Palmer, John (2017). Midland Main Lines to St Pancras and Cross Country: Sheffield to Bristol 1957 – 1963. Pen and Sword. ISBN 9781473885592.
  25. ^ a b Historic England. "Monument No. 1473304". Research records (formerly PastScape). Retrieved 24 October 2017.
  26. ^ a b "Willington C Gas Pipeline Environmental Statement Appendix 6.3 Willington Power Station, Willington, Derbyshire. Remediation Options Appraisal" (PDF). National Infrastructure Planning Inspectorate. nPower. Retrieved 24 October 2017.
  27. ^ a b "'High Merit': existing English post-war coal and oil-fired power stations in context" (PDF). Historic England. Archived from the original on 2016-12-20. Retrieved 2017-10-24.
  28. ^ "Castle Donington Conservation Area Appraisal and Study" (PDF). North West Leicestershire District Council. Retrieved 25 October 2017.
  29. ^ Russell, Dan (12 August 2017). "In pictures: Construction of Ratcliffe-on-Soar power station". Nottingham Post. Retrieved 24 October 2017.
  30. ^ Ambrose, Jillian (2024-09-29). "End of an era as Britain's last coal-fired power plant shuts down". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2024-09-30.
  31. ^ "Firm that 'built city' reaches 150 years". BBC News. 30 April 2017. Retrieved 24 October 2017.
  32. ^ "Luncheon on opening of North Wilford Power Station". Nottinghamshire County Council. Retrieved 25 October 2017.
  33. ^ a b "End of an era as club closes after 62 years | Newark Advertiser". Newark Advertiser. Retrieved 24 October 2017.
  34. ^ Jackson, Allen (2015). Contemporary Perspective on LMS Railway Signalling Vol 1: Semaphore Swansong. Crowood. ISBN 9781785000263.
  35. ^ "Power station towers demolished". BBC News. 15 July 2012.
  36. ^ "Cottam Power Station closes after more than 50 years". BBC News. 30 September 2019. Retrieved 7 September 2020.
  37. ^ "Cottam power station shuts down after more than 50 years". lincolnshirelive. 30 September 2019. Retrieved 7 September 2020.
  38. ^ "Nottinghamshire's West Burton A power station to close in 2022". BBC News. 22 March 2021. Retrieved 22 August 2021.
  39. ^ "West Burton A and B power stations in Nottinghamshire". EDF Energy. Retrieved 22 August 2021.
  40. ^ "Cultural Heritage Desk Based Assessment" (PDF). Scottish and Southern Energy. Retrieved 24 October 2017.
  41. ^ Garrett, Frederick (1959). Garcke’s Manual of Electricity Supply vol. 56. London: Electrical Press. pp. A-98, A-135, B-237.
  42. ^ Sadler, K (1980). "Effect of the warm water discharge from a power station on fish populations in the River Trent". Journal of Applied Ecology. 17.
  43. ^ a b Sheail, John (1991). Power in Trust. Oxford Scientific. p. 65. ISBN 0198546734.
  44. ^ Garrett, Frederick (1959). Garcke's Manual of electricity supply vol. 56. London: Electrical Press.
  45. ^ CEGB (1972). Statistical Yearbook 1972. CEGB. pp. 13, 15.
  46. ^ a b International conference, May 1967, 'Water for peace' Vol. 7, pp. 144-46
  47. ^ "Renewable Energy : The North's Future, Sector by Sector". Big Issue North: 4. 21 October 2016. Retrieved 22 October 2017.
  48. ^ "Mapped: How the UK generates its electricity". Carbon Brief. 12 October 2015. Retrieved 22 October 2017.
  49. ^ Harris, John (14 April 2007). "The Burning Issue". The Guardian. Retrieved 22 October 2017.
  50. ^ "My Darling Clementine: Still Testifying | Folk Radio UK". Folk Radio UK. Folk Music Magazine. 6 June 2017. Retrieved 22 October 2017.
  51. ^ Kaku, Michio (2012). Physics of the Future: The Inventions that Will Transform Our Lives. Penguin. ISBN 9780141044248.

53°00′N 1°00′W / 53.0°N 1.0°W / 53.0; -1.0

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