Central Power House (Hanley) supplied electricity to the county borough and later city of Stoke-on-Trent, England and the surrounding area from the 10 April 1913 to the 1960s. The power station was initially owned and operated by Stoke-on-Trent Corporation, then by the North West Midlands Joint Electricity Authority prior to the nationalisation of the British electricity supply industry in 1948. The power station operated in conjunction with power stations at Burslem, Hanley (original smaller power station adjacent to the site of the Central Power House), Stoke-upon-Trent and Longton.
Electricity was first made available in the Potteries area from a power station at Bethesda Road, Hanley, adjacent to the Trent and Mersey Canal (). This was owned by Hanley Corporation, who had been authorised to supply electricity under the , and first generated electricity on 26 July 1894.
The station had a generating capacity of 624 kW, and supplied 100Hz AC power. In 1898 it supplied 255,383 kWh to 30 customers, plus 96,379 kWh for public lamps. In 1913 it contained two Ferranti engines with central flywheel disc alternators (of 300 kw. and 600 kw. capacity), and two Howden-Westinghouse high-speed direct-coupled revolving field units (with a capacity of 500 k.v.A. each).
Longton Corporation were authorised to supply electricity by the .
A DC generating station at Edward Street (later renamed King Edward Street, now demolished) Longton () was commissioned at the corporation's gasworks site in September 1901. In 1910 it had a generating capacity of 600 kW. from Belliss-E.C.C. direct-coupled sets (consisting of two 150 kw. and one 300 kw).
Stoke-upon-Trent Corporation was authorised to supply electricity by the . The area of supply was extended by the .
A DC generating station was constructed by the corporation at Bagnall Street (since renamed Yeaman Street) Stoke-upon-Trent () in 1904. In 1913 it contained Willans central valve engines and Dick Kerr dynamos (two with a capacity of 150 kw. and two with a capacity of 250 kw.)
Burslem Corporation was authorised to supply electricity by the . The following year, the extended their supply area to cover Wolstanton, and the gave a further extension to Tunstall, under an arrangement with Tunstall Urban District Council.
A DC generating station was constructed on Federation Road, off Scotia Road, Burslem () in 1905, at a cost of ã40,000. In 1913 it contained three Howden Dick Kerr highs peed units (of capacities 100, 200 and 350 kw. respectively) and a 600 kw. Belliss-Siemens mixed pressure turbine.
The 'six towns' were federated to form the county borough of Stoke-on-Trent in April 1910. Electricity supplies were brought under common management in 1910: Stoke-on-Trent Corporation organised its electricity undertaking into four districts, based upon the original three corporation supply areas: Northern Area for the Burslem undertaking, Central Area for the Hanley Corporation undertaking, South Eastern Area for the Longton Corporation undertaking, and South Western Area for the Stoke-upon-Trent undertaking. The supply was integrated from 1 April 1914.
Construction of a large a new power station on the River Trent was started alongside the existing original Hanley power station. The Central Power House () was commissioned in April 1913, supplying 50 Hz AC power. It contained three Stirling water-tube boilers, each having a steaming capacity of 18,900 lb. per hour powering two Howden-Siemens turbo alternators of 1,500 kW capacity. Further electricity generating plant was added to the station from 1919 to 1929.
Central Power House was the main Electricity Works, and the Hanley, Longton, Burslem and Stoke-upon-Trent sites were referred to as 'Sub-Works'. The Hanley Sub-Works was fitted with motor-generators to convert the 50 Hz AC supply to 100 Hz AC. The Longton, Burslem and Stoke-upon-Trent Sub-Works were later fitted with rotary converters and used as conversion stations during the transitioning period of DC to AC electricity supplies. Once the changeover from DC to AC was fully complete just before Christmas 1938, the conversion equipment was sold and these sub-works were later used as regular distribution substations as part of the wider network of 120 substations planned as a minimum to supply the city.
The first AC 6.6kV substation switched on in the city was at the Goldendale Iron Co. Ltd in Tunstall and was switched on in 1915. The second being at the Electric and Ordnance Accessories Co. Ltd in Slippery Lane, Hanley of the same year. These no longer exist and were decommissioned many years ago. The oldest surviving substation is located at Napier Street, Fenton, () originally called Boving which was the third substation commissioned. This is thought to have been switched on in 1923, the large gap since the second substation being due to the War.
In 1923 the generating stations and their plant comprised:
The following types of electric current were available to consumers:
By 1955, the plant at Stoke-on-Trent power station comprised:
The boilers had a total evaporative capacity of 360,000 lb/h (45.36 kg/s), and operated at 275 psi and 660 ðF (19.0 bar at 349 ðC), steam was supplied to:
The total installed generating capacity was 31 MW
Condenser cooling water was cooled in seven Davenport wood cooling towers with a capacity of 1.783 million gallons per hour (8,106 m<sup>3</sup>/h).
The operating data for Stoke-on-Trent power station in the period 1921âÂÂ23 was:
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 'selected' power stations that would supply electricity most effectively; Stoke-on-Trent was designated a selected station. The CEB also constructed the National Grid (1927âÂÂ33) to connect power stations within a region. Stoke-on-Trent power station was operated under the direction of the from 1934. The North West Midlands Joint Electricity Authority (JEA) assumed ownership of the Stoke and Stafford generating undertakings in 1928. The JEA generated electricity which was purchased by the Stoke-on-Trent and Stafford corporations and sold to industrial, commercial and domestic consumers. Operating data in the mid-1930s was:
Despite the growth of electricity consumption in the mid-1930s, there were still black spots where the availability of electricity was limited. In the city centre slums and outlying working class suburbs of towns such as Stoke-on-Trent more than a quarter of the streets had no electricity service available.
Stoke-on-Trent power station operating data for 1946 was:
Stoke-on-Trent power station operating data for 1947 was:
The British electricity supply industry was nationalised in 1948 under the provisions of the Electricity Act 1947 (10 & 11 Geo. 6. c. 54). The Stoke-on-Trent undertaking and the Joint Electricity Authority were abolished, ownership of Stoke-on-Trent 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 Stoke-on-Trent electricity undertaking were transferred to the Midlands Electricity Board (MEB).
Following nationalisation the Stoke-on-Trent area became a district electricity supply area; for commercial operation the area was split into three districts: Stoke central, Stoke north and Stoke south. The amount of electricity sold and number of customers was:
Operating data for the period 1954âÂÂ63 was:
Hanley power station and the Central Power House were decommissioned after 1964. The power station was demolished in 1975 and the site was redeveloped as housing.
Longton was used as a 6.6kV substation following the removal of the generating equipment and the demolition of the chimney stack and outbuildings until the construction of the A50 called for its demolition in the 1990s.
Stoke-on-Trent was later used as 132/33/11kV substation following some minor demolition of older outbuildings until a new substation was commissioned nearby alongside the A500 in 1998. The old site was decommissioned and has since lay empty.
Burslem was later demolished and the site repurposed as a 132/33/11kV substation which is still in use today.