ABERTHAW B POWER STATION
THE HISTORY:
As with Uskmouth, Aberthaw B was located on the south coast of Wales as a strategic location for the National Grid in order to ensure consistent power to sparsely populated Wales. Burning both coal and biomass, this power station produced 1,560 megawatts across its three turbines and was cooled entirely by seawater, eliminating the need for cooling towers.
Despite being due to closure in 2006, the plant extended its life by fifteen years by installing flue-gas desulfurization (a method of removing sulphur dioxide from emissions, often with limestone). Alas, this was not enough for the EU and in 2015 they took the UK to court over Aberthaw’s emissions in the case of European Commission v UK in which, unsurprisingly, the EU ruled in their own favour. While the UK government essentially ignored the foreign court’s ruling, they did stick to their own targets and shut Aberthaw B before their 2025 deadline for no-coal power.
THE EXPLORE:
This one was split across two separate trips in both December 2020 and February 2021 and was cut short on both counts due to an unfortunate fascination that the workers of Aberthaw Power Station have with actually doing their job.
Starting at the beginning, one icy December morning a group of us including @UrbandonedTeam and @jtza descended upon Aberthaw with high spirits and low internal bodily temperatures and began the lengthy process of entering the power station. From start to finish, we were inside for about five hours, though several of these were spent hiding on a crane from the workers on the turbine hall floor. Despite getting the main turbine hall floor photographed, there were many parts of the plant we missed due to our hastened exit and we were eager to return to complete said sections.
A couple months later we returned with a renewed sense of endeavour and ambition and, after a seemingly courteous and sedulous security left the gate open, we were in without too much bother. After being inside for about an hour, workers started filtering in once again and the realisation that the gate was in fact open for them rather than us really took the coal out of our furnace and we began making the most of our precious time. Even now sat at my desk two and a half years later I can feel the euphoric rush of running away from workers along the barrier-less crane rail like it was yesterday and it’s a memory that, like all power station experiences, will stick with me forever.
Escaping uncaptured for the second time after being caught short by workers, I left sufficiently satisfied with my photos and with another power station under the belt and this is what I have to show for it…
The old coal train lines helped cross the body of water surrounding Aberthaw.
The lack of cooling towers made Aberthaw very unique.
The power station contained only three turbines, but generated over 1,500 MWs.
The machinery next to each turbine had an appearance somewhat similar to car cylinders.
The boiler house was quickly overtaken by workers come sunrise.
The control room itself was inaccessible, though that didn’t prevent an aerial photo showing the room missing its characteristic computer screens.
It is an unfortunate reality that I didn’t properly get chance to photograph the boiler house and control room in full, though I can’t say we gave this place anything other than our best shot. It was a great experience if nothing else and another one added to the roster…
I’ll see you tomorrow for the next one.
THE HISTORY:
As with Uskmouth, Aberthaw B was located on the south coast of Wales as a strategic location for the National Grid in order to ensure consistent power to sparsely populated Wales. Burning both coal and biomass, this power station produced 1,560 megawatts across its three turbines and was cooled entirely by seawater, eliminating the need for cooling towers.
Despite being due to closure in 2006, the plant extended its life by fifteen years by installing flue-gas desulfurization (a method of removing sulphur dioxide from emissions, often with limestone). Alas, this was not enough for the EU and in 2015 they took the UK to court over Aberthaw’s emissions in the case of European Commission v UK in which, unsurprisingly, the EU ruled in their own favour. While the UK government essentially ignored the foreign court’s ruling, they did stick to their own targets and shut Aberthaw B before their 2025 deadline for no-coal power.
THE EXPLORE:
This one was split across two separate trips in both December 2020 and February 2021 and was cut short on both counts due to an unfortunate fascination that the workers of Aberthaw Power Station have with actually doing their job.
Starting at the beginning, one icy December morning a group of us including @UrbandonedTeam and @jtza descended upon Aberthaw with high spirits and low internal bodily temperatures and began the lengthy process of entering the power station. From start to finish, we were inside for about five hours, though several of these were spent hiding on a crane from the workers on the turbine hall floor. Despite getting the main turbine hall floor photographed, there were many parts of the plant we missed due to our hastened exit and we were eager to return to complete said sections.
A couple months later we returned with a renewed sense of endeavour and ambition and, after a seemingly courteous and sedulous security left the gate open, we were in without too much bother. After being inside for about an hour, workers started filtering in once again and the realisation that the gate was in fact open for them rather than us really took the coal out of our furnace and we began making the most of our precious time. Even now sat at my desk two and a half years later I can feel the euphoric rush of running away from workers along the barrier-less crane rail like it was yesterday and it’s a memory that, like all power station experiences, will stick with me forever.
Escaping uncaptured for the second time after being caught short by workers, I left sufficiently satisfied with my photos and with another power station under the belt and this is what I have to show for it…
The old coal train lines helped cross the body of water surrounding Aberthaw.
The lack of cooling towers made Aberthaw very unique.
The power station contained only three turbines, but generated over 1,500 MWs.
The machinery next to each turbine had an appearance somewhat similar to car cylinders.
The boiler house was quickly overtaken by workers come sunrise.
The control room itself was inaccessible, though that didn’t prevent an aerial photo showing the room missing its characteristic computer screens.
It is an unfortunate reality that I didn’t properly get chance to photograph the boiler house and control room in full, though I can’t say we gave this place anything other than our best shot. It was a great experience if nothing else and another one added to the roster…
I’ll see you tomorrow for the next one.
