Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire Electric Power Company

The Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire Electric Power Company Limited provided electricity to consumers in the English midland counties of Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire. Electricity was supplied by the company from 1904 until its abolition upon the nationalization of the electricity supply industry in 1948.

Foundation

The Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire Electric Power Company Limited was incorporated in 1901. Its legal powers derived from the provisions of the (1 Edw. 7. c. cxxi). Its aim was to supply electricity throughout the counties of Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire. The company was one of the pioneering power companies that were founded from around 1900. This new type of enterprise operated at a larger scale at county and regional level, rather than the local authority areas of earlier electricity undertakings. Specifically the 1901 act authorised the company to erect power stations at Colwick near Nottingham; Warsop and Trowell near Ilkeston; and Newbold and Dunston near Chesterfield.

The company obtained further powers under the (4 Edw. 7. c. lxxvii). This enabled the company to apply for provisional orders to provide an electricity supply in specified areas. Further powers were granted under the (6 Edw. 7. c. xlvii).

Ilkeston power station The company built a power station at Ilkeston and began supplying electricity in July 1904. By 1915 the plant at Ilkeston comprised: two 500 HP (373 kW) and one 160 HP (119 kW) engines coupled to two generators and one dynamo; one 2.5 MW steam turbine; one 0.7 MW steam alternator; one 1 MW turbo-generator; and two 250 kW converters.

Acquisition In 1912 the Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire Company's entire share and loan capital was acquired by the Tramway Light and Power Company Limited. This company was founded in 1912 by the engineer George Balfour to acquire the assets and operating rights of electricity undertakings. In addition to the Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire company, it acquired the neighbouring Leicestershire and Warwickshire Electric Power Company, the Midland Electric Light and Power Company, plus several traction or tramway companies. The Tramway Light and Power Company was renamed the Midland Counties Electric Supply Company in 1921, see Midland Electric Light and Power Company Limited.

Spondon power station In 1922 the Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire Company acquired the Spondon power station from British Celanese. They had built the station in 1917 to supply its own factory. It contained two 6 MW generators with associated boiler plant. These machines were replaced in 1941 with a 30 MW machine and by a further similar set in 1945. By 1950 there were seven generators one 12 MW, one 15 MW, one 25 MW, and four 30 MW machines.These were fed from eight 40,000, eight 80,000 and six 160,000 Ib/hr boilers.

Operating parameters of the company's two stations are summarised in the table. +Ilkeston and Spondon plant 1923Power stationIlkestonSpondonConsumer voltage3-phase, 25 Hz, 440 &250 Volt AC

460 & 230 V DC3-phase, 50 Hz, 6.6 kV, ACBoiler plant lb/hr85,500210,000Generators1 × 0.75 MW AC

1 × 0.75 MW AC

1× 1.0 MW AC

1 × 2.5 MW AC

1 × 0.1 MW DC

1 × 0.3 MW DC

[Total 5 MW]2 × 6 MW

[Total 12 MW]Maximum load MW3,189Included in IlkestonNumber of connections13,765Electricity sold MWh7,708

The Ilkeston station was decommissioned in the late 1920s. The company obtained further powers under the Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire Electric Power Act 1929 (19 & 20 Geo. 5. c. lxxxvi). This increased the monies that the company may use on the operation and construction of new plant.

The National Grid was constructed from 1927. A 132 kV circuit provided an export route from Spondon to the wider region. The circuit comprised Hams Hill, Coventry, Leicester, Nottingham, Burton-on-Trent and Spondon.

By 1937 the Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire company was operating as a power company, by generating, or otherwise acquiring, electric current for local undertakings. The extent of the electricity generation and supply is shown in the following tables. +Spondon power station operations 1937ParameterValueConsumer voltage3-phase, 50 Hz, 11 & 6.6 kV, 460 &230 Volt AC

460 & 230 V DC

11,000 V AC TractionBoiler plant lb/hr1,170, 000Generators2 × 6.0 MW AC

1 × 12.0 MW AC

1× 15.0 MW AC

1 × 25.0 MW AC

2 × 30.0 MW AC

[Total 124 MW]Maximum load MW90,200Number of connections206,861Number of consumers58,332Electricity sold MWh325,623 The electricity undertakings supplied by the Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire Company in 1937 are shown on the table. +Undertakings supplied by the Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire Company 1937Authorized undertakerSales MWhSales £Ashbourne53716Bakewell1,86618,079Beeston2,99437,256Belper6949,307East Notts4,34741,489Hartington Upper Quarter & Kingsterndale1,8927,199Heanor2,48433,018Ilkeston1,81021,439Matlock1,38716,350Misterton1421,522North Derbyshire84310,156Shardlow8039,572Sutton-in-Ashfield3,09240,855West Derbyshire1,11413,023Power Undertaker302,112603,423Total325,633863,371 Spondon power station operations in the final years of the Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire Power Company are as shown in the table. +Spondon power station operations 1946-48Electricity Commission, London, Generation of Electricity in Great Britain year ended 31 December 1946, p.8,Year194619471948Maximum load MW166.3164.3161Electricity supplied MWh879,734859,584787,027Running hours8,784

Abolition The Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire Electric Power Company Limited was abolished on 31 March 1948 under the provisions of the Electricity Act 1947 which nationalized the British electricity supply industry. The generating plant was vested in the British Electricity Authority and the distribution infrastructure in the East Midlands Electricity Board.

Generation of electricity at Spondon power station continued until it closed on 1 October 1982.CEGB, London, Statistical Yearbook 1981-82, p.7 For further details see Derwent Power Station.

Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire Electric Power Company

Bron en licentie