Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire Electric Power Company Limited

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.

Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire Electric Power Company Limited
IndustryElectricity supply
Founded1901
Defunct31 March 1948
FateNationalisation
SuccessorBritish Electricity Authority, East Midlands Electricity Board
Area served
Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire
ProductsElectricity

Foundation

The Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire Electric Power Company Limited was incorporated in 1901.[1] Its legal powers derived from the provisions of the Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire Electric Power Act, 1901, (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.[1] 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.[1]

The company obtained further powers under the Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire Electric Power Act, 1904, (4 Edw. 7. c. lxxvii).[2] This enabled the company to apply for Provisional Orders to provide an electricity supply in specified areas. Further powers were granted under the Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire Electric Power Act, 1906, (6 Edw. 7. c. xlvii).

Ilkeston power station

The company built a power station at Ilkeston and began supplying electricity in July 1904.[1] 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.[3]

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.[1] In addition to the Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire company, it acquired the neighbouring Leicestershire and Warwickshire Electric Power Company Limited, 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.[1]

Spondon power station

In 1922 the Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire Company acquired the Spondon power station from British Celanese. Operating parameters of the company's two stations are summarised in the table.

Ilkeston and Spondon plant 1923[4]
Power station Ilkeston Spondon
Consumer voltage 3-phase, 25 Hz, 440 &250 Volt AC

460  & 230 V DC

3-phase, 50 Hz, 6.6 kV, AC
Boiler plant lb/hr 85,500 210,000
Generators 1 × 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 MW 3,189 Included in Ilkeston
Number of connections 13,765
Electricity sold MWh 7,708

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).[5] 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.[1]

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 1937[6]
Parameter Value
Consumer voltage 3-phase, 50 Hz, 11 & 6.6 kV, 460 &230 Volt AC

460 & 230 V DC

11,000 V AC Traction

Boiler plant lb/hr 1,170, 000
Generators 2 × 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 MW 90,200
Number of connections 206,861
Number of consumers 58,332
Electricity sold MWh 325,623

The electricity undertakings supplied by the Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire Company in 1937 are shown on the table.[6]

Undertakings supplied by the Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire Company 1937[6]
Authorized undertaker Sales MWh Sales £
Ashbourne 53 716
Bakewell 1,866 18,079
Beeston 2,994 37,256
Belper 694 9,307
East Notts 4,347 41,489
Hartington Upper Quarter & Kingsterndale 1,892 7,199
Heanor 2,484 33,018
Ilkeston 1,810 21,439
Matlock 1,387 16,350
Misterton 142 1,522
North Derbyshire 843 10,156
Shardlow 803 9,572
Sutton-in-Ashfield 3,092 40,855
West Derbyshire 1,114 13,023
Power Undertaker 302,112 603,423
Total 325,633 863,371

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 1946-48[7][8]
Year 1946 1947 1948
Maximum load MW 166.3 164.3 161
Electricity supplied MWh 879,734 859,584 787,027
Running hours 8,784

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.[8]

Generation of electricity at Spondon power station continued until it closed on 1 October 1982.[9] For further details see Derwent Power Station.

See also

References

  1. Bloomfield, G. T. "The East Midlands Electricity Board Area Regional and Local Electricity Systems in Britain" (PDF). Retrieved 6 October 2023.
  2. "Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire Electric Power Act 1904" (PDF). Retrieved 7 October 2023.
  3. Garcke, Emile (1916). Manual of Electrical undertakings, 1914-15 Vol 18. London: Electrical Press Limited. p. 372.
  4. Electricity Commission (1925). Electricity Supply 1920-22. London: HMSO. pp. E156-59, F400-05.
  5. "Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire Electric Power Act 1929" (PDF). Retrieved 7 October 2023.
  6. Electricity Commission (1939). Electricity Supply 1937-38. London: HMSO. pp. E176-79, F480-85.
  7. Electricity Commission, London, Generation of Electricity in Great Britain year ended 31 December 1946, p.8,
  8. Garcke’s Manual of Electricity Supply, 1950-51 Vol 48. London: Electrical Press Limited. 1951. pp. A-103–04.
  9. CEGB, London, Statistical Yearbook 1981-82, p.7
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