development in the late 1940’s because coal and cooling water were readily available and it had good rail access.In the years after the war there was an urgent need for more generating capacity but in 1950 Castle Donington Power Station represented a major technical breakthrough in power station design. It’s 600MW capacity from six 100MW generator units were the largest in Europe at the time and it’s layout and construction concepts were the forerunner of nearly all the UK coal fired power stations that followed.
The Minister of Power approved the construction of Castle Donington in 1951 and work began clearing the site almost immediately. The first 100MW Unit started generating in November 1956 and the station was officially opened on October 22nd 1957 by the Lord Lieutenant of Leicestershire, Lord Cromwell. Unit 6 the final generator was completed and started generating in May 1959.
Castle Donington proved to be a very successful power station. It was reliable, flexible and could overgenerate by up to 10% if the conditions were right. It started off running base load but as cheaper more efficient plant came available it proved to be very good at two shifting also (shutting down over night). This led to a reputation of being able to respond quickly at short notice and made it a first call for National Grid when they needed extra megawatts in a hurry.
Bill Arundel
BILL ARUNDEL
We are dedicating this Castle Donington section of the web site to Deputy Superintendent Bill Arundel.
If you asked anyone who worked at Castle Donington to name one person they associated with the Station most would say Bill Arundel.
Bill worked at Castle Donington as Deputy Superintendent from 1966 to 1988 when he retired. He was an `old school’ manager and a gentleman. Bill was also very keen on health and safety as many staff would confirm after being on the receiving end of a `Bollocking’ for not wearing the correct PPE or complying with safety procedures.
The photo attached is of Bill receiving a retirement certificate from Malcolm Castledine at the Castle Donington 30 Year Celebration Family Day in 1988.
Castle Donington site has become a huge industrial development since the station was demolished. The road that runs through the middle is named `Arundel Avenue.’
