Hammersmith power station supplied electricity to the London Borough of Hammersmith from 1897 to 1965. It was owned and operated by the Hammersmith Vestry and then the Hammersmith Metropolitan Borough Council until the nationalisation of the British electricity supply industry in 1948.ÃÂ The power station was frequently redeveloped with new plant over its operational life to meet increased demands for electricity. It was decommissioned in 1965.
In 1893 the Hammersmith Vestry applied for a provisional order under the Electric Lighting Acts to generate and supply electricity to the parish. The was granted by the Board of Trade and was confirmed by Parliament through the Electric Lighting Orders Confirmation (No. 3) Act 1893 (56 & 57 Vict. c. xl). The power station was built off Fulham Palace Road, north of Yeldham Road () and first supplied electricity on 21 June 1897 to a potential population of 104,000 (1898).
The original 1898 plant at Hammersmith power station comprised two Babcock and Wilcox boilers of the water-tube type and one Lancashire Tetlow boiler. These fed a common steam ring feeding steam to three J&H McLaren engines driving 125 kW 2,200 Volt Ferranti flywheel disc alternators. In addition there was a 25 kW Bellis engine driving a 25 kW Ferranti alternator used for daytime as load initially was primarily lighting. Power was distributed to seven substations.In 1899 a further Babcock & Wilcox boiler was added along with 2 Robey vertical cross compound engines each feeding a ECC 300 kW alternator.
The power station was then enlarged to allow an three additional boilers to power two Robey engines with Siemens iron core alternators of 600 kilowatts output.
Following the First World War further new plant was installed to meet growing demand for electricity.
In 1920 a 10,000 kW Parsons turbo alternator set running at 3000 rpm was installed and by 1923 the generating plant comprised:
These machines gave a total generating capacity of 18,500 kW of alternating current.
The plant installed in 1919 included the UK's first large pulverised fuel fired boilers, these were provided on three of the units used a bin feed system. Hydraulic coal delivery was also introduced at Hammersmith.
A choice of electricity supplies were available to consumers:
In 1937 the generating capacity of the station was 28,500 kW, the maximum load was 23,850 kW, and the connections on the system were 69.822 MW.
By 1954 the plant comprised:
The total evaporative capacity was 229,000 lb/h (28.8 kg/s), steam conditions were 200 psi and 620âÂÂ650 ðF (13.8 bar, 327âÂÂ343 ðC), and supplied steam to:
Condenser cooling water was taken from the River Thames.
Operational data for the early years of operation was as follows:
There was a growth in the number of consumers and the amount of current sold within yearly variations.
The operating data for the period 1921âÂÂ23 is shown in the table:
Under the terms of the Electricity (Supply) Act 1926 (16 & 17 Geo. 5. c. 51) the Central Electricity Board (CEB) was established in 1926. The CEB identified high efficiency âÂÂselectedâ power stations that would supply electricity most effectively. The CEB also constructed the National Grid (1927âÂÂ33) to connect power stations within a region. Hammersmith power station was electrically connected to Fulham power station via twin 66 kV underground cables and to Barnes power station via triple 6.6 kV underground lines.
Hammersmith power station operating data, 1937 and 1946 is as follows.
The British electricity supply industry was nationalised in 1948 under the provisions of the Electricity Act 1947 (10 & 11 Geo. 6. c. 54). The Hammersmith electricity undertaking was abolished, ownership of Hammersmith power station was vested in the British Electricity Authority, and subsequently the Central Electricity Authority and the Central Electricity Generating Board (CEGB). At the same time the electricity distribution and sales responsibilities of the Hammersmith electricity undertaking were transferred to the London Electricity Board (LEB).
Operating data for the period 1954âÂÂ65 is shown in the table:
The data demonstrates the less intensive use of the power station during its last decade of operating life.
The electricity supplied, in MWh, by Hammersmith power station over its operating life was:<graph>{ "version": 2, "width": 700, "height": 250, "data": [ { "name": "table", "values": [ { "x": 1898, "y": 234 }, { "x": 1904, "y": 2224 }, { "x": 1912, "y": 9168 }, { "x": 1919, "y": 15963 }, { "x": 1920, "y": 13778 }, { "x": 1921, "y": 15498 }, { "x": 1922, "y": 15262 }, { "x": 1923, "y": 16255 }, { "x": 1946, "y": 19095 }, { "x": 1954, "y": 3436 }, { "x": 1955, "y": 3937 }, { "x": 1956, "y": 3518 }, { "x": 1957, "y": 741 }, { "x": 1958, "y": 1136 }, { "x": 1961, "y": 1492 }, { "x": 1962, "y": 2147 }, { "x": 1963, "y": 4953 }, { "x": 1964, "y": 3461 }, { "x": 1965, "y": 5462 } ] } ], "scales": [ { "name": "x", "type": "ordinal", "range": "width", "zero": false, "domain": { "data": "table", "field": "x" } }, { "name": "y", "type": "linear", "range": "height", "nice": true, "domain": { "data": "table", "field": "y" } } ], "axes": [ { "type": "x", "scale": "x" }, { "type": "y", "scale": "y" } ], "marks": [ { "type": "rect", "from": { "data": "table" }, "properties": { "enter": { "x": { "scale": "x", "field": "x" }, "y": { "scale": "y", "field": "y" }, "y2": { "scale": "y", "value": 0 }, "fill": { "value": "steelblue" }, "width": { "scale": "x", "band": "true", "offset": -1 } } } } ] }</graph>
Hammersmith power station was decommissioned in 1965. The buildings subsequently demolished and the area has been redeveloped with commercial and residential buildings.