Eggborough Power Station – Demolished

Well. This is very much a site I had wanted to do for many years, and I am glad to have done it at least once before it was demolished.

Technical Details

Commission Date: 1967.

Decommission Date: 2018.

Capacity: 2,000MW (four units).

Cooling Towers: eight 114 meter (375ft) cooling towers, arranged in a rectangular layout.

Chimney: one 200 meter (650ft) multiflue stack.

Fuel Type(s): coal.

Control System: CUTLASS with later APMS modifications.

Boiler Manufacturer: Foster Wheeler and John Brown.

Turbine Generator Manufacturer: Associated Electric Industries.

Architect: George Hooper of Sir Percy Thomas and Son.

Status: demolished.

History:

Eggborough Power Station was a 2 gigawatt coal-fired generating plant in North Yorkshire, England. The station comprised four 500 megawatt units, with generating sets supplied by AEI. Construction began in 1962 and the first unit started generating electricity in 1967. Construction was completed by September 1970. Eggborough Power Station is the parent station of Ironbridge Power Station, who is exactly the same in design, except half the size.

The power station was commissioned in stages between 1967 and 1970 and initially operated by the Central Electricity Generating Board (CEGB) but upon the privatisation of the electrical industry, Eggborough Power Station became the property of National Power in 1990. British Energy, later bought out by French state owned company EDF, bought the power station in 2000 and increased the security of the perimeter by constructing a 12ft tall steel mesh fence topped with razor wire. On 1 April 2010, EDF transferred Eggborough Power Station to the plant’s shareholders who then put the power station up for sale. In January 2015 the sale of the power station to Czech Republic-based Energetický a průmyslový Holding was finalised.

Eggborough’s four units were fitted with electrostatic precipitators in 1998, and units 3 and 4 had flue gas desulphurisation equipment added in 2005. This reduced their sulphur emissions. Between 2005 and 2007, work was carried out to reduce nitrogen oxide emissions – BOFA (boosted over fire air) systems were added to the boiler burners of units 1, 3 and 4. Sadly in September 2018, Eggborough Power Station was closed. It had ceased generating in March of that year.

The Explore:

I woke up pretty early on a chilly April morning at 2am. I’d decided to get a very early night’s sleep beforehand, to make sure I was fully awake and alert for the day’s events. I’d gone with a former associate of mine and we stayed close by the site. After two hours, we both set off for the power station. However, my former associate decided to go back to bed at the hotel instead of accompanying me into a hazardous site as he was very tired after apparently not having slept well. So, I had to go it alone, which in retrospect wasn’t a good idea, but never mind. I found a hole in the fence and made my way towards the looming power station. There were floodlights all over the place so I did my best to keep to the shadows. After failing to explore this place in June 2020, I was absolutely adamant not to fail. I got to the last shadowy area and checked the coast. No sign of life apart from the rumble of a generator powering the floodlights. So I belted it like hell across the open ground and found the access. By that time I was out of breath and knackered, but I forged on anyhow. I found the entrance inside the plant and boom, BINGO! Demolition is well underway here sadly, and two of the four turbines are stripped out, with the other two open to the air, which made for an interesting photo opportunity. I spent around four hours inside the power station, moving up and down inside. I photographed the cooling towers from the roof of the boiler house against the rising sun. Let’s just say, the photos speak for themselves about how cool and fascinating this place was. The control room was easily the highlight of this explore. So many knobs and dials and buttons. Serious old school vibes, with no computer screens anywhere. Enjoy…!

Exterior: