Sculcoates power station supplied electricity to Kingston upon Hull and the wider East Yorkshire area from 1898. An earlier 1893 station in Dagger Lane had operated public lighting in Hull Old Town. Sculcoates power station was built and operated by Kingston upon Hull Corporation on a site in Sculcoates Lane adjacent to the Beverley and Barmston Drain. The power station was increased in size as demand for electricity grew, it was redeveloped several times: including major rebuilds in 1927–29 and in 1938–1952. The power station was closed in 1976 and was subsequently demolished.
History
In 1880 Kingston upon Hull Corporation sought a Local Act of Parliament to allow it, or third parties, to generate and supply electricity for public lighting in the Old Town. This authority was obtained in the Hull (Corporation) Electric Lighting Act 1880 (43 & 44 Vict. c. cxxv). This was only the second such legal authorisation in the United Kingdom following the Liverpool (Corporation) Electric Lighting Act 1879. A street lighting scheme was built in Hull, however, the lights proved to be unreliable and were discontinued in 1884.
In 1890 Kingston upon Hull Corporation applied for a Provisional Order under the Electric Lighting Acts to generate and supply electricity to the town. This was granted by the Board of Trade and was confirmed by Parliament through the Electric Lighting Orders (No.6) Act 1890 (54 & 55 Vict. c. cxci). The Hull Corporation electricity undertaking constructed a power station in 1893 in Dagger Lane. The electricity undertaking initially had 33 consumers, this increased to 271 in 1894 and to 679 in 1898.
To meet increasing demand for electricity a new power station was built in Sculcoates Lane (53°45'48.9"N 0°20'41.7"W) which allowed power to be supplied to west of the Old Town and to the east side of the River Hull. The station was located where the King George Docks railway line crosses the Beverley and Barmston Drain. The railway enabled the delivery of coal to the station and the drainage channel provided cooling water.
Equipment specification
The first Sculcoates plant comprised Willans engines coupled directly to Siemens and Holmes dynamos. There were also Crompton-Howell and Epstein accumulators to maintain current when demand exceeded the generating capacity. In 1898 the generating capacity was 880 kW. There were calculated to be 43,534 lamps of 8 candle power.
The power station was extended several times over the first half of the twentieth century.
Post-war plant
Following the First World War new plant was installed to meet growing demand for electricity. By 1923 the plant comprised:
Coal-fired boilers generating a maximum of 434,000 lb/h (54.7 kg/s) of steam, these supplied steam to:
Generators
2 × 45 kW reciprocating engines
1 × 180 kW reciprocating engine
2 × 200 kW reciprocating engines
4 × 460 kW reciprocating engines
7 × 500 kW reciprocating engines
2 × 2,000 kW steam turbines (AC) 1 × 5,000 kW steam turbine (AC)
These gave a total generating capacity of 6,010 kW of Direct Current, and 9,000 kW of Alternating Current.
Electricity supplies were available to consumers as 220 and 440 Volts DC; and 3-phase, 50 Hz AC at 230 and 450 Volts.
New plant 1925–46
New low pressure (LP) generating sets were commissioned in 1925–26 and high pressure (HP) sets in 1927–46.
Boilers
3 × Clarke-Chapman 187,500 lb/h (23.62 kg/s), steam conditions 400 psi and 825°F (27.6 bar, 441 °C), feed water 250 °F (121 °C), 5 × Clarke-Chapman 110,000 lb/h (13.86 kg/s), steam conditions 400 psi and 775 °F (27.6 bar, 413 °C), feed water 210 °F (99 °C), 2 × Clarke-Chapman 200,000 lb/h (25.2 kg/s), steam conditions 400 psi and 825°F (27.6 bar, 441 °C), feed water 300 °F (149 °C),
The boilers had a total evaporative capacity of 1,492,500 lb/h (188 kg/s), the boilers supplied steam to:
Turbo-alternators: 1 × 7 MW Brush-Ljungstrom, 6.6 kV 1 × 5 MW Brush-Ljungstrom, 6.6 kV 2 × 12.5 MW Brush-Ljungstrom, 6.6 kV 1 × 25 MW Parsons, 6.6 kV 1 × 30 MW Parsons, 22 kV 1 × 25 MW GEC, 6.6 kV
The total installed generating capacity was 122 MW.