History
At the beginning of the twentieth century, the use of electricity for general purposes began to be considered, and the Newcastle upon Tyne Electric Supply Company (NESCo) realised the potential it offered for development. In June 1899, the Walker and Wallsend Union Gas Company (WWUGC) acquired Parliamentary powers for the supply of electricity to the area around Wallsend. In January 1900 they erected Neptune Bank power station near the North Eastern Railway's (NER) North Tyneside Loop, midway between Wallsend and Walker. In October 1900, NESCo acquired the entire power station from the WWUGC, with the exception of the cables and sub-station machinery installed for the purpose of supplying the works in the area in which the WWUGC had obtained Parliamentary powers. the WWUGC continued to buy electricity in bulk from NESCo.
The station was officially opened on 18 June 1901 by Lord Kelvin. At the opening he said:
"We have seen at work what many have not seen before - a system realised in which a central station generates power by steam engines and delivers electricity to consumers at distances varying, I think, from a quarter of a mile to over three and a half miles... A larger station is in prospect, larger work is contemplated. This admirable but comparatively small station at Neptune Bank makes a splendid beginning... What I am seeing today is the dream of my life realised. I do not know the limits of electricity, but it will go beyond anything we can conceive of today."
The station was the first power station to generate electricity for industrial purposes, rather than just for domestic and street lighting, and this led to a rapid expansion of NESCo.
NESCo laid high-tension cables from the power station to various substations in Newcastle upon Tyne. The company changed their system of supply, from 2,000 volt (V) single phase alternating current which had been used to distribute power from their Pandon Dene Power Station, to three phase current at 5,500 V. This made NESCo the first statutory authority to supply in such a way. The scientific journal, The Electrician congratulated NESCo in June 1901, stating that "not merely electric power supply on Tyneside was formally inaugurated last Tuesday, but the era of electric power utilisation all over the kingdom."
A year after the station came into operation, NESCo's original power station at Pandon Dene was closed and converted into a substation. The Pandon Dene station had originally supplied Newcastle city centre with electricity, but the new Neptune Bank station took over this supply, transmitting using high voltage cables laid in ducts, rendering the older station obsolete.
Read more about this topic: Neptune Bank Power Station
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