The Greenwich Electricity Generating Station, which was opened on May 26, 1906, has been designed to supply sufficient energy for the whole of the tramways worked by the London County Council. It will be one of the largest generating stations in the kingdom, and will ultimately have plant amounting to about 52,000 horse-power. The general arrangement of the generating station was designed by the Council's architect in consultation with the tramways electrical engineer, and the building was erected under the supervision of Mr. W. E. Riley, the Council's architect, and equipped under the supervision of Mr. A. L. C. Fell, the Council's chief officer of tramways, and Mr. J. H. Rider, the tramways electrical engineer. The pier and condensing water pipes were designed and erected under the supervision of Mr. Maurice Fitzmaurice, the Council's chief engineer.
The site is on the bank of the river at Greenwich, about 250 yards eastward of Greenwich Hospital. There is an area of approximately 31 acres. The boiler-house contains twenty-four water-tube boilers of the five-drum Stirling Company's type, and twenty-four boilers of the Babcock & Wilcox Company's type, arranged in pairs in two rows, with a firing floor between. Each Stirling boiler has an evaporate capacity of about 16,300 lbs. of water per hour, while the Babcock boilers will evaporate 18,200 lbs. per hour. Each boiler works at 200 lbs. pressure, and is fitted with chain grate stokers.
The engine-room contains four reciprocating engine sets of 3500 kilowatts normal capacity each, and two turbine sets of 5000 kilowatts each. Two other sets are in course of erection. The engines are by Messrs. John Musgrave & Sons, Limited, of Bolton, and are of the vertical-horizontal type. Each engine comprises two complete half-engines, one on each side of the generator, consisting of a vertical high pressure cylinder 330 inches diameter, and a horizontal low pressure cylinder, 66 inches diameter. The stroke in each case is 4 feet, and the two connecting-rods on the one side of the engine work on to a common overhung crank pin. The engines run at 94 revolutions per minute.
The generators were built by the Electric Construction Company, Limited, of Wolverhampton, and are mounted directly on the engine shafts, each generator being erected between the two half-engines of each set. They are all of the revolving field type, and deliver three-phase current at 6600 volts between phases, at 25 complete cycles per second. The normal output is 3500 kilowatts, or 306 amperes per phase, and 4375 kilowatts on emergency overload.
The turbines now at work were made by Messrs. Willans & Robinson, Limited, while the generators were made by Messrs. Dick, Kerr & Co., Limited. They run at 750 revolutions per minute, and will give 6250 kilowatts on emergency overload. The switch-gear is of the remote control electrically operated type. The circulating and feed-pumps are all electrically operated. When completed, the Station is estimated to cost about £800,000, and the total cost of the pier condensing water pipes, and a wharf wall about 260 feet in length, is about £53,000.
That's quite an nteresting too I see no lack of capacity in the uk to construct electrical equipment