Looming up out of the kent marshes this power station opened in 1962 and during the next nine years burnt 3.25 million tonnes of coal from the neighboring coal fields. In 1971 it was converted to Oil Firing - By the late 80's the station was once again outdated and no longer complied with emissions legislation. in 1989 the station underwent complete refurbishment and in 1990 embarked on extensive trials with Orimulsion® - a emulsion of bitumen and water produced in Venezuela. by 1991 it had become the first power station in the uk to use orimulsion on a fully operational basis burning 138 tonnes every hour and even became home to a advanced research and development department. In the early 1990s green peace and other environmental groups began voicing there concerns about orimulsion - around this time local farmers crops failed and cars suffered damage to there paintwork by chemical filled dust emitted from the burning of the fuel. After a painful court case and facing a embarrassing high court proceeding powergen paid a substantial out of court settlement. The power station closed, Orimulsion is now recognized as one of the worlds dirtiest fuels, Salvage work started on the power station shortly after closure. The generating plant which had been installed for less than 7 years was scrapped - Then work stopped, the power station sits deserted Home only to pigeons and a sleeping security guard, The buildings lie silent slowly decaying awaiting a demolition team that never came back. |
