Ferrybridge C Power Station - Just North East Of Pontefract - Feb/March 2020
Introduction
I had been wanting to do this one for a year or so by now and never really got round to it.
This turned out to be a rather interesting night consisting of broken tripods, unusual encounters, muddy trousers and general stupidity.
Ferrybridge C power station, as the name would suggest, is the third station in succession of power stations on the site of Ferrybridge.
Ferrybridge A date back to just before 1917 when the land for a station was purchased under the Yorkshire Electric Power Company.
Plans were submitted in 1920, after a delay the year prior due to the Electricity ACT 1919, to the Electricity Commissioners. The plans were approved roughly a year later in November 1921.
It wouldn't be until 1926 when construction began until its completion in 1927.
The positioning of the station, which would benefit the future structures, was close to the River Aire with the Dearne Valley Railway also acting as a supply route in.
Inside the station consisted of Eight Boilers feeding Two Turbines which powered an individual alternator. Giving the power station a capacity of 125MW.
Image Source
The station ran under the Yorkshire Electric Power Company until 1947 when the Electricity Act 1947 had the station nationalised and passed onto the British Electricity Authority. Later the CEGB in 1954.
In 1957 Ferrybridge B was constructed under the CEBG, joining Ferrybridge A, with it being fully commissioned in 1959.
The station consisted of Three generating sets rated at 100MW each with a total output of 300Mw
Image Source
It wasn't long after that the CEGB had began construction of Ferrybridge C, beginning in 1961. Before commissioning began, in 1965, turbulent winds exaggerated by the layout and shape of the towers caused Three of the Eight to collapse. The towers were built to withstand the winds that caused the three to collapse but this didn't take into account shorter and more violent bursts. With this the towers that had fell were rebuilt with the remaining five, already heavily damaged, being repaired and reinforced. The fallen towers would not be rebuilt fully until 1968.
The station was bought onto the grid in 1966 with unit one supplying power with it using one of the remaining cooling towers whilst the other others were rebuilt. The remaining three would be bought online by 1967.
Coal was initially bought to Ferrybridge A, B and C via barge using the river Aire.
At the time of Ferrybridge C around a Million or so tonnes of coal could be stored within the yard with nearly Two Hundred ton delivered on a single barge by the 1960s with Rail-freight Supplementing this. Barges were unloaded unloaded using the Barge Tippler, similar to a wagon tippler, would pick a barge out of the water and empty the contents inside.
Some train/boat spotting around Ferrybridge from 1991:
By the 1990's, following privatisation, the barge tippler was succeeded by greater amounts of Rail-freight transport due to the superiority of the MGR train system.
By 1976 Ferrybridge A had reached the end was subsequently closed. It was partially demolished, presumably soon after, with the Boilerhouse, Turbine Hall and whatever else attached spared.
By 1989 the UK power industry was privatised with Ferrybridge B and C was handed to Powergen, Later E.ON Energy.
Following around three years later, in 1992, Ferrybridge B would be closed and wiped out by Powergen.
It was a few year later (2006) when Lafarge Cement would build a plasterboard factory on the site of Ferrybridge B primarily due to the Gypsum produced from the FGD systems installed a Ferrybridge C. This industry still operates today, under Siniat.
Following privatisation, like most, the stations were thrown between owners with Ferrybridge being next passed onto Edison Mission Engery in 1999.
It would bee soon after that Ferrybridge C, along with Fiddlers Ferry, would be thrown into the hands of American Electric Power (AEP) in 2001.
Again this would be short lived with Ferrybridge C and Fiddlers Ferry were thrown onto the ownership of SSE.
SEE pulled Ferrybridge from the European Industrial Emissions Directive of 2010 in 2013. Similar to the Large Combustion Plant Directive. The directive was a scheme to reduce emissions from a station by ensuring they invested into technologies that combated emissions, by opting out the plant would be restricted to 17,500 hours of operation after the beginning of 2016.
The LCPD, similar within the principles of cutting emissions, would still have to be complied with or have the plant face closure in the end of 2015.
The Visit
Visited With:
@ xplorer.x
@ jtza
@ UrbandonedTeam
@ DustySensorPhotography
We had previously attempted this station a few months prior with no real idea on how to get in or any idea what it was like inside. We found a way onsite but dared not to go any further as none of us were entirely sure.
A few months later we were back with a bit more of an idea.
Having parked up, probably around midnight, we met with the rest of the group looking as if we were about to do more than a simple trespass.
Taking the same route onto the site as we did last time, albeit with more hassle and people, we ventured further in.
Once on, then back off, then back on site we were under the station's infrastructure.
After a few moments we were within the boiler house surrounded by a fair amount of demolition equipment. We decided to avoid the lower floors in case a wandering patrol happened to see us in the mangled remains of the station, this would later be important, and thus we headed to the rooftop.
Up here we got an overview of the site where the successive Ferrybridge Multi fuel stations operate as well as higher view of the two 198m Chimneys and the Gas Turbine Chimneys between.
Boiler House
The Boiler house, albeit mostly dismantled at this time, was the usual mass of pipe work and grated flooring that had been carefully laid out years prior.
The Boilers consisted of four, one per unit, Babcock and Wilcox units with Eight coal pulverising units to each boiler producing steam at 158 Bar at 566 Degrees Celsius.
Symmetry Loveliness
As part of efforts to reduce emissions from the plant in 2005, particularity Sulfur, EDF Energy installed Flue Gas Desulphurisation equipment to the exhaust systems of boiler units 3 and 4. This theoretically halved the plants sulphur emissions.
This system reacts with and captures the sulphur particles in a practice known as scrubbing.
This FGD system would become the cause for a fire in July 2014, on unit 4, which would later become part of the early downfall for the plant.
Rather open area near boiler 3
We spent a fair amount of time, mostly cocking about, in the boiler house trying to decide how we should tackle the rest of the station.
Trying to light this was a pain.
Moody Looking Walkway
Turbine Hall
After a while we headed into the turbine hall which had degraded a lot more than expected.
Very little of the turbines or alternators remained apart from the concrete foundations and some displaced components.
Before work had begun there would have been four steam turbines Built by Parsons with a capacity of 500MW being some of type's first installations by the CEGB.
At the time of our visit Units 3 and 4 were the most intact.
General Waste looks out upon the hall, having little time left in life himself.
Units C1 and C2 had been decomissioned for thier final time in March 2014 under the EU's Large Combustion Plant Directive having not been fitted with Flue Gas Desulphurisation Equipment.
A bit of Unit C1
Unit C2 seen form Unit C1
The Only remaining part of Unit C2
We were in the turbine hall for quite some time. This was primarily due to the lack of natural light which was essential in the Control Room and other admin areas we planned on seeing so we took our time among the remnants of the turbines.
It was whilst three of us were slouching around the remains of Unit C1 we looked up to see the others staring back at us rather panicked from the crane. Within this time we heard some voice in a direction that was from none of us. We grabbed the bags and other crap, leaving only a coat behind, and went up into the boilers to hide.
After some sending of pictures between us we figured out that security had gone for a wander around the place past where we were just sitting. Not the most tense or extreme encounter ever but certainly unexpected.
Unit c3 and c4 continued on being compliant with LCPD rules. Unfortunately the fire within unit 4 in July of 2014 took both units out of action for even longer than their expected maintenance periods they were in when the fire started.
Unit C3 would be repaired to normal condition and begin generating in October the same year.
Unit C4, although expected to be repaired by April 2015, returned to the grid in December 2014 burning low sulphur coal due to the lack of FGD equipment. This low sulphur coal eventually ran out by March 2015 and with none being re-ordered unit 4 was taken off line.
Unit C4 was fairly intact.
The coverings for the blades had been removed.
Unit C3 trundled on until a year later on the 28th of March 2016 where the station was de-synced from the grid.
Overview of C3
Unit C4 closest, looking out to the whole hall.
Crane Cab
It is also worth mentioning that the Station had a further 4 generating units with these being Gas Turbines.
The gas turbines were installed after construction and were supposed to provide additional power to the plant with their primary goal to restart the whole station in the event of a total power loss. The turbines were capable of providing an additional 68MW although this was halved by the 90's with only C6 and C8 (Gas Turbine 1 and 4) operational until closure of the whole site.
The Control Room.
Having finished up in the Turbine hall we headed to the area that had been at the top of the list.
The room was typical of a power station of this type in the 1960's. A large open room with desks enclosing the room upon hundreds of controls. Each corner had the control for a Coal Unit and Gas Turbine Unit with engineering stations dotted between. The ceiling drops down seemingly dividing the room and providing lighting onto the face of the desks with cabling on the inside for displays that were now long removed.
The room had remained mostly unaltered for its life, apart from a blue rubberised SSE flooring placed on top of the original tile work which had since been removed for demolition.
We spent our final moments here, mostly with smiles from, knowing that we could tick this one off the list and planning how exactly we would escape.
Some Sort Of Switch Room
And that'll be all
KP_
I had been wanting to do this one for a year or so by now and never really got round to it.
This turned out to be a rather interesting night consisting of broken tripods, unusual encounters, muddy trousers and general stupidity.
Ferrybridge C power station, as the name would suggest, is the third station in succession of power stations on the site of Ferrybridge.
Ferrybridge A date back to just before 1917 when the land for a station was purchased under the Yorkshire Electric Power Company.
Plans were submitted in 1920, after a delay the year prior due to the Electricity ACT 1919, to the Electricity Commissioners. The plans were approved roughly a year later in November 1921.
It wouldn't be until 1926 when construction began until its completion in 1927.
The positioning of the station, which would benefit the future structures, was close to the River Aire with the Dearne Valley Railway also acting as a supply route in.
Inside the station consisted of Eight Boilers feeding Two Turbines which powered an individual alternator. Giving the power station a capacity of 125MW.
Image Source
The station ran under the Yorkshire Electric Power Company until 1947 when the Electricity Act 1947 had the station nationalised and passed onto the British Electricity Authority. Later the CEGB in 1954.
In 1957 Ferrybridge B was constructed under the CEBG, joining Ferrybridge A, with it being fully commissioned in 1959.
The station consisted of Three generating sets rated at 100MW each with a total output of 300Mw
Image Source
It wasn't long after that the CEGB had began construction of Ferrybridge C, beginning in 1961. Before commissioning began, in 1965, turbulent winds exaggerated by the layout and shape of the towers caused Three of the Eight to collapse. The towers were built to withstand the winds that caused the three to collapse but this didn't take into account shorter and more violent bursts. With this the towers that had fell were rebuilt with the remaining five, already heavily damaged, being repaired and reinforced. The fallen towers would not be rebuilt fully until 1968.
The station was bought onto the grid in 1966 with unit one supplying power with it using one of the remaining cooling towers whilst the other others were rebuilt. The remaining three would be bought online by 1967.
Coal was initially bought to Ferrybridge A, B and C via barge using the river Aire.
At the time of Ferrybridge C around a Million or so tonnes of coal could be stored within the yard with nearly Two Hundred ton delivered on a single barge by the 1960s with Rail-freight Supplementing this. Barges were unloaded unloaded using the Barge Tippler, similar to a wagon tippler, would pick a barge out of the water and empty the contents inside.
Some train/boat spotting around Ferrybridge from 1991:
By the 1990's, following privatisation, the barge tippler was succeeded by greater amounts of Rail-freight transport due to the superiority of the MGR train system.
By 1976 Ferrybridge A had reached the end was subsequently closed. It was partially demolished, presumably soon after, with the Boilerhouse, Turbine Hall and whatever else attached spared.
By 1989 the UK power industry was privatised with Ferrybridge B and C was handed to Powergen, Later E.ON Energy.
Following around three years later, in 1992, Ferrybridge B would be closed and wiped out by Powergen.
It was a few year later (2006) when Lafarge Cement would build a plasterboard factory on the site of Ferrybridge B primarily due to the Gypsum produced from the FGD systems installed a Ferrybridge C. This industry still operates today, under Siniat.
Following privatisation, like most, the stations were thrown between owners with Ferrybridge being next passed onto Edison Mission Engery in 1999.
It would bee soon after that Ferrybridge C, along with Fiddlers Ferry, would be thrown into the hands of American Electric Power (AEP) in 2001.
Again this would be short lived with Ferrybridge C and Fiddlers Ferry were thrown onto the ownership of SSE.
SEE pulled Ferrybridge from the European Industrial Emissions Directive of 2010 in 2013. Similar to the Large Combustion Plant Directive. The directive was a scheme to reduce emissions from a station by ensuring they invested into technologies that combated emissions, by opting out the plant would be restricted to 17,500 hours of operation after the beginning of 2016.
The LCPD, similar within the principles of cutting emissions, would still have to be complied with or have the plant face closure in the end of 2015.
The Visit
Visited With:
@ xplorer.x
@ jtza
@ UrbandonedTeam
@ DustySensorPhotography
We had previously attempted this station a few months prior with no real idea on how to get in or any idea what it was like inside. We found a way onsite but dared not to go any further as none of us were entirely sure.
A few months later we were back with a bit more of an idea.
Having parked up, probably around midnight, we met with the rest of the group looking as if we were about to do more than a simple trespass.
Taking the same route onto the site as we did last time, albeit with more hassle and people, we ventured further in.
Once on, then back off, then back on site we were under the station's infrastructure.
After a few moments we were within the boiler house surrounded by a fair amount of demolition equipment. We decided to avoid the lower floors in case a wandering patrol happened to see us in the mangled remains of the station, this would later be important, and thus we headed to the rooftop.
Up here we got an overview of the site where the successive Ferrybridge Multi fuel stations operate as well as higher view of the two 198m Chimneys and the Gas Turbine Chimneys between.
Boiler House
The Boiler house, albeit mostly dismantled at this time, was the usual mass of pipe work and grated flooring that had been carefully laid out years prior.
The Boilers consisted of four, one per unit, Babcock and Wilcox units with Eight coal pulverising units to each boiler producing steam at 158 Bar at 566 Degrees Celsius.
Symmetry Loveliness
As part of efforts to reduce emissions from the plant in 2005, particularity Sulfur, EDF Energy installed Flue Gas Desulphurisation equipment to the exhaust systems of boiler units 3 and 4. This theoretically halved the plants sulphur emissions.
This system reacts with and captures the sulphur particles in a practice known as scrubbing.
This FGD system would become the cause for a fire in July 2014, on unit 4, which would later become part of the early downfall for the plant.
Rather open area near boiler 3
We spent a fair amount of time, mostly cocking about, in the boiler house trying to decide how we should tackle the rest of the station.
Trying to light this was a pain.
Moody Looking Walkway
Turbine Hall
After a while we headed into the turbine hall which had degraded a lot more than expected.
Very little of the turbines or alternators remained apart from the concrete foundations and some displaced components.
Before work had begun there would have been four steam turbines Built by Parsons with a capacity of 500MW being some of type's first installations by the CEGB.
At the time of our visit Units 3 and 4 were the most intact.
General Waste looks out upon the hall, having little time left in life himself.
Units C1 and C2 had been decomissioned for thier final time in March 2014 under the EU's Large Combustion Plant Directive having not been fitted with Flue Gas Desulphurisation Equipment.
A bit of Unit C1
Unit C2 seen form Unit C1
The Only remaining part of Unit C2
We were in the turbine hall for quite some time. This was primarily due to the lack of natural light which was essential in the Control Room and other admin areas we planned on seeing so we took our time among the remnants of the turbines.
It was whilst three of us were slouching around the remains of Unit C1 we looked up to see the others staring back at us rather panicked from the crane. Within this time we heard some voice in a direction that was from none of us. We grabbed the bags and other crap, leaving only a coat behind, and went up into the boilers to hide.
After some sending of pictures between us we figured out that security had gone for a wander around the place past where we were just sitting. Not the most tense or extreme encounter ever but certainly unexpected.
Unit c3 and c4 continued on being compliant with LCPD rules. Unfortunately the fire within unit 4 in July of 2014 took both units out of action for even longer than their expected maintenance periods they were in when the fire started.
Unit C3 would be repaired to normal condition and begin generating in October the same year.
Unit C4, although expected to be repaired by April 2015, returned to the grid in December 2014 burning low sulphur coal due to the lack of FGD equipment. This low sulphur coal eventually ran out by March 2015 and with none being re-ordered unit 4 was taken off line.
Unit C4 was fairly intact.
The coverings for the blades had been removed.
Unit C3 trundled on until a year later on the 28th of March 2016 where the station was de-synced from the grid.
Overview of C3
Unit C4 closest, looking out to the whole hall.
Crane Cab
It is also worth mentioning that the Station had a further 4 generating units with these being Gas Turbines.
The gas turbines were installed after construction and were supposed to provide additional power to the plant with their primary goal to restart the whole station in the event of a total power loss. The turbines were capable of providing an additional 68MW although this was halved by the 90's with only C6 and C8 (Gas Turbine 1 and 4) operational until closure of the whole site.
The Control Room.
Having finished up in the Turbine hall we headed to the area that had been at the top of the list.
The room was typical of a power station of this type in the 1960's. A large open room with desks enclosing the room upon hundreds of controls. Each corner had the control for a Coal Unit and Gas Turbine Unit with engineering stations dotted between. The ceiling drops down seemingly dividing the room and providing lighting onto the face of the desks with cabling on the inside for displays that were now long removed.
The room had remained mostly unaltered for its life, apart from a blue rubberised SSE flooring placed on top of the original tile work which had since been removed for demolition.
We spent our final moments here, mostly with smiles from, knowing that we could tick this one off the list and planning how exactly we would escape.
Some Sort Of Switch Room
And that'll be all
KP_
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