Watford Power Station

Watford Power Station
Country	England
Location	Hertfordshire, East of England
Coordinates
Status	Demolished
Commission date	1897
Decommission date	apx 1990
Operator(s)	Watford Corporation Electricity Department
Thermal power station
Primary fuel	Coal, Oil, gas
grid reference [1]

Watford Power Station was a coal-fired power station situated in Watford's Riverside area. The station was built by the Watford Corporation Electricity Department starting with the installation of cables in 1899 with completion around 1900, near the banks of the River Colne.

Development

The power station was built near the Watford and Rickmansworth Railway and a rail siding spurred into the site allowing coal to be brought in from the north Midlands. It appears the original coal-fired power station was a large gothic building with six chimney; this was utilised until 1968, when the operation became uneconomic and was converted to oil firing.

In the early 1970s the site was cleared for a new gas/oil-fuelled power station in 1974–78, but this was used only as a stand-by facility and this was also demolished, some time in the 1990s. The site is now used for step-down transformers.