Documenting the decline of coal and oil fired electricity generation in the UK
Documenting the decline of coal and oil fired electricity generation in the UK

Tilbury B Power Station, Essex

Tilbury Power Station

Construction of the first power station at Tilbury commenced in 1951 and Tilbury ‘A’ Station opened in 1956.

The brick-built Tilbury 'A' Power Station with Tilbury 'B' behind
The brick-built Tilbury ‘A’ Power Station with Tilbury ‘B’ behind

The original power station was mothballed in 1981 and was mostly demolished in 1999 – for a while small building housing ancillary services and the control room remained, however all traces have now been demolished.

Tilbury B Power Station
Tilbury B Power Station

Tilbury ‘B’ Station was constructed from 1961 and opened in 1968. The station consisted of four GEC generating units with a total capacity of 1428 MW. Fuel was delivered via ship to a huge jetty in the Thames. Cooling water was also drawn from the Thames.

The station was originally fuelled by coal but was converted to burn biomass in 2011. Only a couple of years later the announcement was made that the station was to be closed, and the station generated its last electricity in 2013. RWE cited a lack of government subsidiaries as the reason for this closure.

Buildings and Plant Detail

Tilbury TurbinesTurbine Hall

The turbine hall at Tilbury housed 4 sets of 357 MW GEC generating units.

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Tilbury BoilersBoiler House & Fuel Delivery

The boiler house contained boilers and mills.

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Tilbury Control RoomControl Room & Admin

The control room at Tilbury had seen some upgraded but remained largely original.

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Tilbury Jetty and Coal UnloadersJetty & Coal Unloaders

Coal was delivered to Tilbury via a jetty with two large unloaders.

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Tilbury Image Gallery

Visit the plant detail pages above to view more images from each area of the power plant

2012 Fire

On the morning of 27 February 2012 a major fire broke out in the station’s fuel storage area. Between 4,000 – 6,000 tonnes of fuel was being stored in the area at the time. Essex County Fire and Rescue Service mobilised over 120 firefighters to the fire, along with 15 pumping appliances, crews used three aerial ladder platforms, one major rescue tender, three bulk foam tenders and a thermal-imaging camera in a helicopter to help tackle the fire.


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