Didcot Power Station

The Didcot Power Stations are twin facilities for the generation of electric power to supply National Grid UK. They are situated immediately adjoining one another in the civil parish of Sutton Courtenay, next to the town of Didcot in Oxfordshire (formerly in Berkshire).

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Didcot A

The power station was designed by architect Frederick Gibberd. A vote was held in Didcot and surrounding villages on whether to build a power station. There was strong opposition from Sutton Courtenay but the yes vote was carried due to the number of jobs that were created in the area. Building was started on the 2,000MW coal/gas-fired power station (four 500MW units) for the CEGB during 1964, and was completed in 1968 at a cost of £104m, with up to 2400 workers being employed at peak times. It is located on a 300 acre (1.2 km²) site formerly part of the Ministry of Defence Central Ordnance Depot. The main chimney is 650 ft (198 m) tall with the six cooling towers 325 ft (99 m) each. In 2003 Didcot A burnt 3.7Mt of coal.

The station burns mostly coal but is also co-fired with natural gas. Didcot was the first large power station to be converted to have this function. In addition, a small amount of biomass such as sawdust is burnt. This was introduced to try and depend more on renewable sources following the introduction of the Kyoto Protocol and, in April 2002, the Renewables Obligation (RO). It is hoped that biomass could replace 2% of coal burnt. In 1996 and 1997, Thales UK was awarded contracts by Innogy (now npower) to implement the APMS supervisory and control system on all of the four units, then allowing to have optimised emissions monitoring and reporting.^[1]

Some ash from Didcot A is used to manufacture building blocks at a factory on the adjacent Milton Park, but most is mixed with water and pumped via a pipeline to former quarries in Radley.

On the morning of Thursday 2 November 2006, 30 Greenpeace volunteers invaded the power station. One group chained themselves to machinery and immobilised the coal-carrying conveyor belts. A second group scaled the 200 metre high chimney, and set up a climate camp. They proceeded to paint "Blair's Legacy" on the side of the chimney overlooking the town. Greenpeace claim Didcot Power Station is the second most polluting in Britain after Drax in Yorkshire^[2], whilst Friends of the Earth describe it as the ninth worst in the UK^[3].

According to a BBC news report, Didcot A is scheduled to close in the next five to ten years ^[4].

Didcot B

Didcot B is the newer sibling, constructed in the late 1990s, and uses Combined Cycle Gas Turbines (CCGT) to generate up to 1,360MW of electricity. There has been some controversy locally that the access for the site was originally agreed to be via the site entrance for Didcot A on Basil Hill Road, however the 'temporary' access using the former National grid stores access road is still in use.

Ownership

Following privatisation of the CEGB in the early 1990s, Didcot A passed into the control of what became National Power, who also started construction of Didcot B. Successive demergers and mergers have meant the site passed through Innogy (in 2001) and now by RWE npower^[5].

Tours

Tours are available of Didcot A (if booked) and are free for educational institutions and community groups. Tours last 1.5 or 2 hours for the junior tour and adult tour respectively.

Architectual Reception

• It was voted Britain's third worst eyesore in 2003 by Country Life readers^[6], although Didcot A won architectural awards for how well it blended into the landscape, following its construction.

• British poet Kit Wright has written an "Ode to Didcot Power Station" using a parodic style akin to that of the early romantic poets.

See also

• List of tallest buildings and structures in Great Britain
• Energy use and conservation in the United Kingdom
• Energy policy of the United Kingdom

References

1. ^ For more information, see Advanced Plant Management System, the Didcot A Case study on the APMS website or the article about the implementation of the Moore's Quadlog Safety PLC in Didcot.
2. ^ Climate campaigners shut down one of UK's biggest power stations. Greenpeace. Retrieved on 2006-11-02.
3. ^ Carbon Dinosaurs. Friends of the Earth. Archived from the original on 2004-10-19.
4. ^ Protesters remain at power plant. BBC News. Retrieved on 2006-11-04.
5. ^ Didcot Power Station. RWE npower. Retrieved on 2006-11-04.
6. ^ Britain's Worst Eyesores. BBC News. Retrieved on 2006-11-04.