Buildwas Power Station

Buildwas Power Station or Ironbridge Power Station is a coal fired power station in Shropshire, England.

The 970 MWe coal fired power station is the only significant energy producer (of electricity) in Shropshire. The plant consumes about 1.2 million tonnes of coal, 48,000 tonnes of biomass and 20,000 tonnes of oil per year and generated 2,990 GWh of electricity in 2004.[1]

The power station lies in the Buildwas parish, in Shrewsbury and Atcham borough. It is located near to the Ironbridge Gorge World Heritage Site, where the Industrial Revolution began.

Coal is delivered to the power station via a railway that runs from Wolverhampton through Telford and then via Coalbrookdale to the site. The River Severn runs along one side of the power station and the railway has to cross the river on a bridge, the Albert Edward Bridge.

The 4 cooling towers of the power station dominate the skyline, but the station has often been noted to be more aesthetically pleasing than most. From Ironbridge, the surroundings of the station are hidden by wooded hills, and the cooling towers were deliberately constructed from red tile rather than the usual yellow-brown in order to make them look more attractive. The towers cannot be seen at all from the world famous landmark, the Iron Bridge.

Environmental group Friends of the Earth claims that Buildwas is one of the worst polluters in the United Kingdom. [1]

The power station is expected to close by 2015.