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Grove Road power stationinSt. John’s Wood, London was an 80 MW electricity generating station that operated from 1902 until its closure in 1969. It was an early attempt by two London electricity companies to centralise the generation of electricity in a shared, relatively large-scale power station. The location is now the site of two major high-voltage electricity sub-stations.
| Grove Road Power Station | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Country | England, United Kingdom |
| Location | St. John's Wood, London |
| Coordinates | 00°00′00″N 00°00′00″E / 0.00000°N 0.00000°E / 0.00000; 0.00000 |
| Status | Decommissioned and demolished |
| Construction began | 1902 |
| Decommission date | 1969 |
| Owner(s) | Central Electric Supply Company (1902-25), London Power Company (1925-48), British Electricity Authority (1948-55), Central Electricity Authority (1955-57), Central Electricity Generating Board (1958-73). |
| Operator(s) | As owner |
| Thermal power station | |
| Primary fuel | Coal (until 1964), oil (from 1964) |
| Site area | 3 hectare |
| Chimneys | 1 |
| Cooling towers | 16 (wooden) |
| Cooling source | Recirculating water cooling towers |
| Power generation | |
| Units decommissioned | All |
| Nameplate capacity | 80 MW |
| Annual net output | See graph in text |
The Central Electric Supply Company was founded in June 1897. It was promoted by two existing statutory electricity undertakings: the Westminster Electric Supply Corporation and the St. James’ and Pall Mall Electric Lighting Company. These had generated electricity in several small-scale power stations within their area of supply, but wished to acquire electricity in bulk. The St. James’ Company had commenced electricity generation and supply to its area of north Westminster in April 1889 and the Westminster Corporation to north and south Westminster in November 1890.[1] The companies were the main shareholders of the Central Company which obtained legislative powers in 1899 to supply electricity in bulk to the two founding companies.
The Central Electric Supply Company established a 22 MW power station on a 7.5 acre (3.0 hectare) site off Grove Road, in St. John’s Wood, immediately to the north of the Regent’s Canal and south-east of Lord’s Cricket Ground. The architects were Charles Stanley Peach and Sir Charles Herbert Reilly.[2] The boiler house and turbine hall were orientated north-west to south-east, and there was a single, square, ornate brick chimney. Although named Grove Road (now Lisson Grove) the main frontage of the station was on the south side of Lodge Road (formerly Lodge Place).[3] Coal for the power station was taken to a dedicated siding off the adjacent Great Central Railway.[3]
Electricity supplies from Grove Road began in November 1902.
From 1912 the Central Company also supplied current in bulk to the Chelsea Electricity Supply Company. The electricity generating capacity of the companies, and how this changed over time is demonstrated in the following table. There was, as intended, a decline in local electricity generation and a move towards central production.[1][4]
| Electricity generating capacity, MW | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| St. James | Westminster | Chelsea | Central | |
| 1903 | 5.50 | 10.65 | (3.30) | ̶ |
| 1923 | 0 | 8.10 | 0.60 | 50.00 |
| 1933 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Part of LPC |
In 1912 further equipment was installed in Grove Road to increase the generating capacity to 40 MW. Bulk electricity supplies from Grove Road were transmitted at 6.6 kV, 3-phase, 50 Hz. Local supplies were of Direct Current (DC) at 200-400 V. In 1915 the Central Company supplied 10.7 MW to the Westminster company via Motor-generator sets and 2.2 MW to St. James. In the mid-1920s the bulk supply voltage was increased to 22 kV. The generating and transforming capacity for undertakings taking bulk supplies, and the amount of electricity generated and imported (from Grove Road) in 1923 were:
| St. James | Westminster | Chelsea | Central | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Generating capacity, MW | 0 | 8.10 | 0.60 | 50.00 |
| Transforming capacity, MW | 13.49 | 23.70 | 4.50 | ̶ |
| Electricity generated, MWh | 0 | 13.24 | 1.04 | 59.71 |
| Electricity imported, MWh | 23.12 | 31.25 | 5.67 | ̶ |
Under the London Electricity (No. 2) Act 1925 the St. James, Westminster, Chelsea and Central Company, and others, became part of the London Power Company (LPC). The companies ceased generating electricity from small local power stations and purchased electricity supplies from the LPC. In the same year the LPC embarked on a plan to modernise Grove Road power station. The Central Company was legally dissolved in October 1932 as its functions to supply electricity had been subsumed by the LPC.
The generating capacity of Grove Road was about 80 MW although this should be seen in the context of the LPC’s major generating stations: Battersea rated at 343 MW (in 1935) and 503 MW (1955) and Deptford at 448 MW.
Upon nationalisation of the British electricity industry in 1948 ownership of Grove Road station was transferred to the British Electricity Authority (1948-55), then to the Central Electricity Authority (1955-57), and finally to the Central Electricity Generating Board (1958-69).
The generating capacity of Grove Road power station in 1964 was 80.25 MW. The chain-grate boilers had a steam capacity of 895,000 lb/hr. Steam pressure at the turbine stop valves was 210 psi (14.45 bar) 357/371°C. The station was notable for the field of 12 wooden cooling towers to the south-west of the site. In 1964-65 the boilers were modified for oil firing to take advantage of relatively cheap oil in this period. By 1968 some plant had been retired and the generating capability had been reduced to 37.5 MW; the thermal efficiency was 12.59 percent (in 1961) and 9.18 per cent (1968). The electricity output of Grove Road power station in its final years was as follows.
Grove Road annual electricity output GWh.
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Graphs are unavailable due to technical issues. There is more info on Phabricator and on MediaWiki.org.
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The electricity generating plant at Grove Road power station was decommissioned in 1969. The power station buildings were demolished in 1973.
The Grove Road site is the location of two major electricity sub-stations. It is the southern end of the Elstree to St John’s Wood 400 kV power transmission line and is also a 132 kV sub-station, part of the London power distribution network.
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