NA TURE 



609 



THURSDAY, JULY 14, 1921. 



Editorial and Publishing Offices: 



MACMILLAN h- CO., LTD., 



ST. MARTIN'S STREET, LONDON, W.C.2. 



Advertisements and business letters should be 

 addressed to the Publishers. 



Editorial communications to the Editor. 



Telegraphic Address : PHUSIS, LONDON. 

 Telephone Number: GERRARD 8830.; 



The London Electricity Inquiry. 



THE inquiry into the electric supply for 

 London, which was opened by the Elec- 

 tricity Commissioners on June 14, is still proceed- 

 ing. Owing to the many conflicting interests of 

 the companies and the local authorities, the ques- 

 tion is very complicated ; but as there is practical 

 agreement on the engineering side it is hoped that 

 an agreed scheme will be evolved. The Com- 

 missioners have to consider six proposals, but 

 only three of them both cover (or nearly cover) 

 the whole area and consider the appointment of 

 a Joint Authority as contemplated by the Elec- 

 tricity Act of 1919. These three proposals were 

 submitted by (i) the London County Council; 

 {2) the conference of local authorities owning 

 electricity undertakings in Greater London ; and 

 (3) the London Electricity Joint Committee, 1920, 

 Ltd., which comprises nine of the leading London 

 supply companies. In addition there are also 

 proposals by (4) the Metropolitan Borough 

 Council of Poplar, which asks that the East London 

 supply should be considered as one district ; (5) the 

 Great Eastern Railway Co. ; and (6) the London, 

 Brighton, and South Coast Railway Co. 



The first three proposals have much in 

 common from the engineering point of view. It 

 is recognised that, owing to the financial con- 

 ditions prevailing at present, the proposals sug- 

 gested in 1914 for the immediate erection of 

 capital stations would not now be advantageous, 

 although the demand for electric power is much 

 in excess of the supply. At present prices it does 

 NO. 2698, VOL. 107] 



not pay to shut down even antiquated stations 

 and to replace them by others more efficient. The 

 L.C.C. scheme (i) is based on the retention and 

 development of certain of the existing stations 

 in the area, whilst the other stations gradually 

 cease to be generating stations. In the original 

 scheme the building of capital stations before 

 1925 was contemplated, but it is now thought 

 inadvisable to hamper the "Joint Electricity 

 Authority " with a large capital outlay. It -is pro- 

 posed to organise on a sound basis the present 

 facilities in the area. In the first stage of the 

 scheme as now modified eighteen of the existing 

 sixty-one generating stations will be gradually 

 shut down, and in the second stage a further 

 twenty-six will disappear, leaving only seventeen, 

 of which twelve are owned by private companies. 

 In the first stage thirty-one of the stations would 

 be interlinked by high-pressure cables, working 

 pressures of 33,000 and 11,000 volts being used 

 for the interconnecting mains. Considerable 

 economies could thus be effected by diminishing 

 the capital plant required and having engines 

 running only at their most economical load. 

 It will be seen that the proposal is a direct re- 

 versal of the earlier electrical legislation, which 

 always contemplated having two competing com- 

 panies in each district. 



After 1925 the L.C.C. contemplates the building 

 of four new capital stations each of 250,000 kilo- 

 watt capacity. It also proposes to reconstruct 

 the existing stations at Stepney and Deptford on 

 a much larger scale. All the new stations would 

 be situated on the Thames. The one at Chiswick 

 would be capable of supplying the whole of 

 Middlesex at 33,000 volts. The remaining stations 

 would be east of the Blackwall tunnel at Black- 

 wall, Beckton, and Greenwich respectively. It is 

 calculated that by extending existing stations 

 and interlinking them there will be a total plant 

 capacity of 577,000 kw. available in 1925, and 

 this could supply a demand for 500,000 kw. It 

 is thus possible to postpone the erection of these 

 super-stations in the hope that money and plant 

 will be cheaper after 1925. The maximum power 

 available by extending existing stations is 

 760,000 kw. , but it is probable that in four years' 

 time the gain in lower working costs effected by 

 building these large stations will more than off- 

 set the higher capital charges that would have to 

 be met. 



The companies (3) desire to restrict the area 

 — at least in the first instance — within a radius 

 of ten miles from St. Paul's. In their opinion it 



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