North Tees Power Station

In 1917, the Newcastle upon Tyne Electric Supply Company (NESCo) took control of the principal electrical undertakings for a large area in south County Durham and North Yorkshire. To supply the newly acquired area, NESCo built the North Tees Power Station on the banks of the River Tees at Billingham. The construction of the station began in 1917 and was completed for opening in 1921.

The station was designed by the engineering consultants Merz & McLellan. The station used two Metropolitan-Vickers 11.5 kV, 40Hz 20,000 kilowatt (kW) turbo-alternators (actually 2 x 10,000 kW tandem alternators) to generate electricity, giving it a total generating capacity of 40,000 kW. Ten Babcock & Wilcox boilers which were used to provide the steam to the turbines in the station, were famous in engineering circles at the time. In 1918 the boilers became the first in the world to use steam at up to 450 psi, and pioneered the practice of reheating it during expansion in the turbine plant. This development resulted in a further increase in the efficiency of power generation, and an…