West Thurrock Power Station

West Thurrock Power Station was a coal-fired power station on the River Thames at Stone Ness, West Thurrock in Essex. The station was at the northern end of the 400 kV Thames Crossing of the National Grid.

The station was built by the Central Electricity Generating Board and, unlike most of the power stations further up the Thames, West Thurrock was built on a 37 hectare green field site, 1.5 miles west of Grays. Construction, which included the piling and landfilling of the marshy riverside, took several years, starting in 1957 and continuing until 1965 - although the first generator was commissioned in 1962. It was the first CEGB station designed to exceed 1000 MW, having a final output of 1300 MW. The station had two 200 MW units and three of 300 MW units housed in a reinforced concrete turbine hall. The boilers were unusual being open to the elements and were originally designed to burn pulverised coal. They were adapted to burn natural gas between 1971 and 1980, and heavy fuel oil burning facilities were added in 1985. The station had two 175 m tall chimneys made from reinforced concrete.

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