Dunston Power Station

Dunston power station
Dunston B Power Station
Viewed from southwest
Map
Official nameDunston A and B power stations
CountryEngland
LocationDunston
Coordinates54°57′37″N 1°39′32″W / 54.96028°N 1.65889°W / 54.96028; -1.65889
StatusDemolished
Construction began1908 (A station)
1930 (B station)
1947 (Gas turbine)
Commission date1910 (A station)
1933-51 (B station)
1955 (Gas turbine)
Decommission date1975-81
Owner(s)Newcastle-upon-Tyne Electric Supply Company
(1910–1947)
British Electricity Authority
(1948–1954)
Central Electricity Authority
(1954–1957)
Central Electricity Generating Board
(1957–1981)
Thermal power station
Primary fuelCoal
Secondary fuelNatural gas
Power generation
Units operationalA station:
Two 7.2 MW AEG, one 6.25 MW Brown Boveri, one 13.2 MW Brown Boveri and later one 15 MW C. A. Parsons and Company gas turbine
B station:
Six 50 MW C. A. Parsons and Company
Nameplate capacity1910: 33.85 MW
1951: 333.85 MW
1955: 348.85 MW
1981: 98 MW
External links
CommonsRelated media on Commons
Sometimes confused with the nearby Stella power stations.

Dunston Power Station refers to a pair of adjacent coal-fired power stations in the North East of England, now demolished. They were built on the south bank of the River Tyne, in the western outskirts of Dunston in Gateshead. The two stations were built on a site which is now occupied by the MetroCentre. The first power station built on the site was known as Dunston A Power Station, and the second, which gradually replaced it between 1933 and 1950, was known as Dunston B Power Station. The A Station was, in its time, one of the largest in the country, and as well as burning coal had early open cycle gas turbine units. The B Station was the first of a new power station design, and stood as a landmark on the Tyne for over 50 years. From the A Station's opening in 1910 until the B Station's demolition in 1986, they collectively operated from the early days of electricity generation in the United Kingdom, through the industry's nationalisation, and until a decade before its privatisation.

Dunston A had a generating capacity of 48.85 megawatts (MW) in 1955, and Dunston B had a generating capacity of 300 MW. Electricity from the stations powered an area covering Northumberland, County Durham, Cumberland, Yorkshire and as far north as Galashiels in Scotland.[1]

  1. ^ "Dunston Power Station". Whickham Web Wanderers. u3a. Archived from the original on 3 May 2013. Retrieved 29 June 2008.