Лондонның Банксайд электр стансасының тарихы

Former power station in Southwark, London

Bankside Power Station is a decommissioned electricity generating station located on the south bank of the River Thames, in the Bankside area of the Borough of Southwark, London. It generated electricity from 1891 to 1981. It was also used as a training base for electrical and mechanical student apprenticeships from all over the country. Since 2000 the building has housed the Tate Modern art museum and gallery.

There were numerous complaints against the power station throughout its operational life. In October 1901 the CLELCo paid the Corporation of Southwark £250 (250.0 in 1901 is equivalent to about <calculated amount> in recent years) in settlement of the costs of the corporation taking a smoke nuisance action against the company. In January 1903 the company was fined £20 (20.0 in 1903 is equivalent to about <calculated amount> in recent years) plus costs for "creating smoke". The CLELCo challenged some of these nuisance actions. In May 1910 an officer of the Public Control Department of the London County Council stated that he had observed black smoke issuing from the centre chimney and "in such volumes as to constitute a nuisance". This was contested by the company which said the information was inaccurate, since this was after sunset "any vapour or gas would assume a dark appearance [ ] and the absence of light would not ensure accuracy". The London County Council undertook tests to measure the deposition of grit in the area during the summer of 1950. They estimated that up to 235 tons per square mile of grit was deposited in the area from Bankside ‘A’ power station during the month of September 1950.

Bankside B had a flue gas washing plant to mitigate air pollution at its central London location. Only two British power stations had previously been fitted with such equipment: Battersea power station and Fulham power station. This process produced a characteristic white plume from the chimney. The plant was effective at removing sulphur compounds from the flue gases (over its operational life it achieved an overall average sulphur removal efficiency of 97.2%). Contaminated water from the flue gas washing plant was treated in tanks through which air was bubbled; this oxidised the sulphite to sulphate, the water was diluted with water from the condensers before being returned to the river.

In 1971 the London Electricity Board gained legal powers to develop a district heating scheme at Bankside. The scheme was abandoned following the fuel crisis of 1973–1974.

The total output of Bankside B for selected years over its operational life was as follows. +Bankside B generating capacity and outputYearGenerating capacity (MW)Annual output (GWh)1953/4120118.91958/9120657.71962/3180623.51963/4300536.01964/5300917.91965/6300778.21966/7300930.51967/8300937.21968/93001,060.71969/703001,099.81970/13001,301.21971/2300912.61972/3300982.11973/4300662.61974/5300770.41975/6300320.71976/7240466.71977/8240314.21978/9120109.41979/801009.61980/11004.8
On 8 October 1970 the station produced 6,004,364 kWh in a 24 hour period. Rising oil prices from 1973 made the station uneconomic compared to coal fired power stations, resulting in it being used less often – principally during the winter and at peak times. One of the 60 MW units was decommissioned in 1976 and the two other 60 MW units in 1978. The 120 MW unit was derated to 100 MW. Bankside B was closed on 31 October 1981. There were also campaigns for the building to be saved. The group Save Britain's Heritage visited Bankside in May 1980 and produced a report on possible uses. Applications to list the building in 1987 and 1992 were refused. The government wished to sell the site and listing would have constrained how developers could intervene in the fabric of the building. Bankside was given a 'Certificate of immunity from listing' on 3 February 1993. At the privatisation of the British electricity industry in 1990 the power station was transferred to Nuclear Electric. The company prepared the building for sale by removing asbestos and the redundant machinery at a cost of £2.5 million. An application was made to demolish the west wall of the building to enable this to be done, but contractors were able to remove the plant through a hole in the west wall. The BBC television programme One Foot in the Past focused on the impending threat to the building; the reporter, Gavin Stamp, made an impassioned plea for the building to be saved. In April 1994 the Tate Gallery announced that Bankside would be the home for the new Tate Modern. The £134 million conversion started in June 1995 with the removal of the remaining redundant plant. The conversion work was carried out by Carillion and completed in January 2000. Some of the internal structure remains, including the turbine hall. An electrical substation, taking up the southern part of the building, remained on site and was owned by the French power company EDF Energy. In 2006, EDF announced that they would be releasing half this holding to the museum. The oil tanks were redeveloped into a performance art space opened in July 2012. A tower extension to the museum over the tanks was opened on 17 June 2016.

Several episodes of British television, particularly science fiction series that have required industrial backdrops, such as Red Dwarf, were filmed at the station. The building featured in Danny Cannon's film Judge Dredd. It served as the Tower of London in Richard Loncraine's 1995 film version of Richard III. In its modern incarnation as the Tate Modern, the building's exterior is featured at the beginning of the first episode of Ashes to Ashes. It also appeared in Children of Men by Alfonso Cuarón. In 2018, Tate Modern was featured prominently in the Tom Cruise blockbuster, Mission: Impossible – Fallout.