Richborough Power Station - April 2011

[Ramsgatonion]

I finally decided to have a solo visit to Richborough Power Station, after years of passing it in the car! This really is a nice relaxed explore, I had no problem with security. Part of this site is in use - it receives the power from the Thanet offshore wind farm. Below is the history quoted from Abandoned-Britain.com

Richborough Power Station was built in the late 50's and from 1962 - 1971 Richborough burned over 3 million tonnes of coal, most of which came from the nearby kent coalfields. In 1971 the station was converted to run on oil, but usage of the site became costly as the price of oil prices rose during the 1973 Oil crisis. In 1989 the plant underwent a major refurbishment and in 1990 trials were started on an experimental new fuel called Orimulsion.Orimulsion is a cheap heavy oil and water based emulsion produced form natural bitumen in Venezuela, initial results suggested it would make a cheap clean fuel alternative to oil...

The "Orimulsion" bubble was burst when a local farmer claimed damages against the plants owners powergen for the loss of his crops. Around the same time local people began to notice damage to the paintwork of their cars - linked to acid rain coming form sulphur emissions form the plant.

Other environmental arguments had surfaced regarding the use of Orimulsion such as the fact that it would dissolve in water, If a tanker were to spill its load the damage would cover a vast area and be virtually impossible to remove. The damage would potentially have been far worse than that of a conventional oil spill. Further concerns were raised regarding a toxic dust that Orimulsion was thought to produce because of its high content of heavy metals, leading organisations such as Friends of the Earth to label it the "world's dirtiest fuel"

With the growing concerns about the impact on the local environment Richborough ceased generating in early 1996 nearly 6 years after beginning its trial. Court case settled in an 11th hour agreement with the farmer when Powergen agreed to an out of court settlement thought to be worth £3-4 million.

All trials of Orimulsion in the UK were abandoned and there are no plans to restart them.

The site has been used for filming an episode of Full Metal Challenge (2002) and a scene in the film Son of Rambow (2007).

Photo from when the station was operational:

Photos

1. Cooling Towers

2. Flooded.

3. Valve wheel.

4. Steps.

5. Workshop with trial wind turbine in background.

6. Girders

7. Pressure

8. Pool.

9. Chimney.

10. Turbine Hall.

11. Workshop.

12. Alarm.

13. Offices.

14. Windows.

15. Petrol Station.

16. Stairwell.

17. Notice.

18. Not getting in there.

19. City Electrical Co.

20. Final External.

Thanks for looking, I hope you enjoyed the photos!

 

[he who must rome]

thas a reet nice report m8, was there any security ?

 

[Ramsgatonion]

No one in the hut out front, just a van parked up but I think that was for the workers in the active bit.

 

[Wevsky]

Well u Got it done and the big door open..theres luck for you matey

 

[Nelly]

Love this report, great photos mate

 

[Obscurity]

nice one mate, you have shown the place well and have some nice photos. This is very local to me and still one of my favorite sites for an afternon mooch in the summer

So how are we going to get up those towers guys? lol its puzzled me for years! what a great place for some abseiling :cool2:

 

[Wevsky]

nice one mate, you have shown the place well and have some nice photos. This is very local to me and still one of my favorite sites for an afternon mooch in the summer So how are we going to get up those towers guys? lol its puzzled me for years! what a great place for some abseiling :cool2:

Great place for abseiling..iwas thinking something a bit more gentle for my firstlesson