We had our little lad out with us today so decided to take him on a drive to this place as it seemed like it would be an easy, chilled out explore. We've always wanted to have a nosey at some cooling towers so can now tick this off.
History - Willington Power Station was comprised of two almost entirely independent generating stations situated on the same site. With separate management and staff, the few facilities they shared amounted to the coal and water supply. The two stations were formally known as Willington ‘A’ and Willington ‘B’, with the ‘A’ Station closest to the main road. (The A5132 was then known as the B5009). The ‘A’ Station, built in 1957, comprised four generating Units, each of 100 megawatt capacity. To service these, a pair of 425 foot chimneys (each reportedly amounting to 5,000 tons!) were provided, along with just two cooling towers. Hailed as a revolution of the time, the design of the ‘A’ Station was of four “semi-outdoor” boiler units, only the burners and steam drum of which were enclosed, arranged in a square formation.
The ‘B’ station, commissioned in 1962, was to be only two Units, albeit each of 200MW capacity – equalling the output of the ‘A’ Station with half the hardware. Only one 425 foot chimney was required for the ‘B’ Station, but three cooling towers were provided.
On 16th August 1989 Privatisation saw the power station become part of National Power PLC. 27th January 1993 saw Unit 3 of Station ‘A’, having the highest hours at 179,579, shut down, followed a few months later by Unit 4 with 174,343 hours. Willington Station ‘A’ was finally “de-synchronised” from the National Grid with due ceremony at 1830hrs on 30th September 1994, the Unit concerned being the oldest – No.1 – having operated for 173,464 hours. Closure was a formality and took place on 31st May 1995. Unit 5 was closed 31st March 1998, leaving just the sixth and last unit to struggle on. By now down-rated to 188Mw, Unit 6 took its turn to be de-synchronised a year later on 31st March 1999 — thus ending the 41 year, 3 month & 14 day history of electricity generation at Willington.
Coal train at Willington Power Station
The explore - As mentioned above we headed here as it seemed like an interesting and safe explore to take our lad on, these sites are all slowly getting shut down and demolished so it's something we've had on our list for a while. Access is very easy and it was a really chilled out place to wonder round. The towers feel very epic up close and all in all it was a great place to explore.
View attachment
Thanks for looking.
History - Willington Power Station was comprised of two almost entirely independent generating stations situated on the same site. With separate management and staff, the few facilities they shared amounted to the coal and water supply. The two stations were formally known as Willington ‘A’ and Willington ‘B’, with the ‘A’ Station closest to the main road. (The A5132 was then known as the B5009). The ‘A’ Station, built in 1957, comprised four generating Units, each of 100 megawatt capacity. To service these, a pair of 425 foot chimneys (each reportedly amounting to 5,000 tons!) were provided, along with just two cooling towers. Hailed as a revolution of the time, the design of the ‘A’ Station was of four “semi-outdoor” boiler units, only the burners and steam drum of which were enclosed, arranged in a square formation.
The ‘B’ station, commissioned in 1962, was to be only two Units, albeit each of 200MW capacity – equalling the output of the ‘A’ Station with half the hardware. Only one 425 foot chimney was required for the ‘B’ Station, but three cooling towers were provided.
On 16th August 1989 Privatisation saw the power station become part of National Power PLC. 27th January 1993 saw Unit 3 of Station ‘A’, having the highest hours at 179,579, shut down, followed a few months later by Unit 4 with 174,343 hours. Willington Station ‘A’ was finally “de-synchronised” from the National Grid with due ceremony at 1830hrs on 30th September 1994, the Unit concerned being the oldest – No.1 – having operated for 173,464 hours. Closure was a formality and took place on 31st May 1995. Unit 5 was closed 31st March 1998, leaving just the sixth and last unit to struggle on. By now down-rated to 188Mw, Unit 6 took its turn to be de-synchronised a year later on 31st March 1999 — thus ending the 41 year, 3 month & 14 day history of electricity generation at Willington.
Coal train at Willington Power Station
The explore - As mentioned above we headed here as it seemed like an interesting and safe explore to take our lad on, these sites are all slowly getting shut down and demolished so it's something we've had on our list for a while. Access is very easy and it was a really chilled out place to wonder round. The towers feel very epic up close and all in all it was a great place to explore.
View attachment
Thanks for looking.
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