Toby Smith Light After Dark

Toby Smith

“Most of the power stations currently operating (in the UK) are situated in liminal areas; the outskirts of conurbations, the mouths of estuaries. These bulky exiles stand at the gate between city and country, landscapes entirely dominated by them, as if towns, villages and fields were but the debatable land, over which these chimney topped castles claim serenity. Moreover, without the energy that marches out from them, clutched in the arms of giant pylons, our entire mechanized society would shut off. Most of us barely understand what these power stations are doing – yet they are both omnipresent and omnipotent. ”

 

Excerpt by Will Self, 2010 – Writing in the Times Magazine to support the project’s first UK publication

Over 3 years in the making, Light After Dark is both an aesthetic and conceptual ‘re-visioning’ of energy and landscape. Throughout 2008, 2009 and 2010, I made repeat visits to all 32 major power stations of England. The work is captured on Large Format negative with colour exposures ranging from 5 minutes upto 5 hours. There is no post-production on any of the prints or digital files.

 

Society and the media are seemingly quick to judge these sites as negative icons of pollution. However, many of us are willfully ignorant of our own personal reliance upon their ceaseless operation and electricity production.

 

They are massive and numerous but always lie on the periphery of our landscapes looming over peaceful rural areas far from the urban or industrial centres that consume the majority of their output.

 

Britain’s most famous but now re-purposed, Bankside (Tate Modern Gallery) and Battersea, found themselves sited in the centre of London before any concept of air-pollution or control existed. Subsequent planning has seen newer operational sites deposited away from urban centres close to their core demands of fuel for heat and water for cooling. With the exception of nuclear on the UK’s coast-lines they have found themselves garguatuan, otherworldly invaders of the peaceful rural landscape.

 

“Whispy tendrils of vapour drift off into the ether as Drax power station glows in the darkness. Cooling Towers seemingly grow out of the lakeside woodland as Britain’s largest power station, thirsty for coal, provides for the energy needs of the country. The plant can process up to 36,000 tons of coal a day and over the course of year eats its way through between 7 and 11 million tons it.”  – Roger Coleman – Supporting Essay to Project, 2011

 

Without an anthropological perspective we could perceive these buildings as clashing with nature and our rural environment. However as icons of past progress rather than modern metaphors for climate change they are strangely embraced and largely adored by the British public for their design, heritage and presence in rural England.

All

BARKING, ENGLAND - FEBRUARY, 2008

Barking Reach, a modern fully automated Gas Turbine system sited within 25m of the A13 in East London. Unusually sited within the city limits of London it powers local suburbs and heavy industry. The site also has a pair of wind turbines which in such an area are more likely visual Greenwash then reliable sources of power.

BERKELEY, ENGLAND - MAY, 2008

Berkeley nuclear power station is a disused Magnox power station situated on the bank of the River Severn in Gloucestershire, England. Reactor 2 was shut down in October 1988, followed by Reactor 1 in March 1989. Berkeley was the first commercial nuclear power station in the United Kingdom to be decommissioned following its closure in 1989.

DIDCOT, ENGLAND - AUGUST, 2008

Burning over 3M tones of coal annually, it is claimed that Didcot is one of the 10 most polluting buildings in the country. It is hoped that biomass such as sawdust will replace upto 2% of the main fuel. Some of its waste ash is used in building materials but most is piped and disposed off in neighboring quarries.

DIDCOT, ENGLAND - AUGUST, 2008

In 2003 Didcot B BBC viewers voted this Gas Pipeline fed station Britain’s 3rd worst eyesore. A modern station, it serves the electricity needs of over 1.5 million people whilst only employing 100.

DUNGENESS, ENGLAND - MARCH, 2008

Driving across miles and miles of shingle flanked by rows of pylons leads you to the mysterious Hinterland of Dungeness. A landscape dotted with wooden fisherman cottages, made famous by Derek Jarman’s garden, is dwarfed by the unique modernist architecture of Dungeness Power Station.

EGGBOROUGH, ENGLAND - JULY, 2008

One of 3 massive Coal Plants built in the 1960’s on the M62 this aged plant now has modern Gas Desulphurization and 8 traditional concrete cooling towers. Affectionately known as “cloud machines” their public appreciation was recently shown by a petition to save the identical towers located in Tinsley, Sheffield.

EGGBOROUGH, ENGLAND - JULY, 2008

One of 3 massive Coal Plants built in the 1960’s on the M62 this aged plant now has modern Gas Desulphurization and 8 traditional concrete cooling towers. Affectionately known as “cloud machines” their public appreciation was recently shown by a petition to save the identical towers located in Tinsley, Sheffield.

FERRYBRIDGE, ENGLAND – JULY, 2008

Ferrybridge, one of 3 massive coal plants in Yorkshire, was built during the economic and industrial rise of the North of England. Heavy industry, steel works and manufacturing relied on coal from local collieries. As the pits and mines closed, more and more fuel is imported, at greater cost, from overseas. Its cooling towers are the tallest in Europe and its boilers and turbines consume 800 tonnes of coal and 218 million litres of coolant hourly during peak operation. Ferrybride after evaluation is set to discontinue production past 2015 but is a potential site for new supercritical coal power station.

FIDDLERS FERRY, ENGLAND – APRIL, 2008

Since the collapse of the UK collieries Fiddlers Ferry has been supplied with imported coal from Merseyside docks. Locally known as “The Eight Towers” it draws its cooling water from the River Mersey and the towers enable much of the steam to be recycled. It can be seen from as far as the Peak District and modern biofuel and desulphurization works completed by 2009 ensure it continued viability. The brown hue to the night sky is the light pollution of Liverpool.

GRAIN, ENGLAND - FEBRUARY, 2008

Originally adjoining the now closed BP refinery, Grain is one of the few remaining oil-fired stations in the UK. Principally powered by heavy oil from the North Sea it is destined to be replaced by the controversial Kings North 2nd Generation Coal Plant. Its Chimney is the second tallest structure in the UK. The National Grid feeds most of its electricity to London, the green/purple light pollution of which can be clearly seen to the North.

HINCKLEY POINT, ENGLAND – MAY, 2008

Hinckley Point is a wind swept peninsular in Somerset and the base for one of four nuclear sites on the Severn Estuary. Hinckley B is active but its ageing reactors are limited to 70% output. The building lies next to the sealed and decommissioned Hinckley A and is set to close itself in 2011.

BRISTOL, ENGLAND - FEBRUARY, 2008

Powering Bristol, shown as the deep yellow hue of the night sky, Seabank is a modern station built by Siemens. It is cooled by wastewater from a water treatment facility and was built in part to fill the energy gap being created by the decommissioning of nuclear power along the River Severn.

RUGELEY, ENGLAND - JULY, 2008

Rugely was originally connected directly to from the neighbouring Lee Hall Colliery until its closure in 1991. Its huge boilers are now fed 1.6 Mt of coal annually by rail producing 240,000 tonnes of ash. During a takeover and modernization in 1995 it went from employing 850 people to only 146. It is one of the few coal stations to be modernized to meet new EU legislation and will continue to work long into this century.

LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND - APRIL, 2008

As Liverpool’s heavy industry was revived in the last year’s of the 20th Century Rocksavage was built. It runs at 60% thermal efficiency.

RATCLIFFE-ON-SOAR, ENGLAND - JULY, 2008

Perched on a shallow hillside Radcliffe on Soar with its network of conveyors, coalfields and rail tracks resembles a miniature city. In response to the uncertainty of our future energy needs Radcliffe is expanding both its production of electricity and the stockpile of its coal onsite. The viewpoint from which this photo was taken has since vanished under coal.

RATCLIFFE-ON-SOAR, ENGLAND - JULY, 2008

Perched on a shallow hillside Radcliffe on Soar with its network of conveyors, coalfields and rail tracks resembles a miniature city. In response to the uncertainty of our future energy needs Radcliffe is expanding both its production of electricity and the stockpile of its coal onsite. The viewpoint from which this photo was taken has since vanished under coal.

RATCLIFFE-ON-SOAR, ENGLAND - JULY, 2008

Perched on a shallow hillside Radcliffe on Soar with its network of conveyors, coalfields and rail tracks resembles a miniature city. In response to the uncertainty of our future energy needs Radcliffe is expanding both its production of electricity and the stockpile of its coal onsite. The viewpoint from which this photo was taken has since vanished under coal.

OLDBURY, ENGLAND – FEBRUARY, 2008

As Oldbury is decommissioned its spent nuclear material is moved away under secrecy for disposal. This not only presents a major security risk but an example of the key problems of nuclear power. There is no safe way of disposing of nuclear waste with each spent fuel rod taking upwards of 10,000 years to become benign.

LITTLEBROOK, ENGLAND – FEBRUARY, 2008

Adjacent to the Southern Bank of the Dartford Crossing, the site at Littlebrook in various forms has been generating electricity for London since 1939. Its proximity to an urban area requires a 215m chimney to ensure that the harmful gases are swept away. It has two jetties on the Thames allowing direct delivery by boat to its twin 110,000 tonne oil storage tanks. With the continued expansion of London down the Thames Estuary new build housing is now within 50m of the Power Station itself.

IRONBRIDGE, ENGLAND - MARCH, 2008

Alan Clark the project architect ensured that Ironbridge worked seamlessly with the surrounding landscape. As a result nearly its entire building are shielded behind woodland and the concrete of the cooling towers was dyed reddish pink to blend with the native stone of the area. Ironbridge itself was once the heart of the British Industrial revolution due to its plentiful coal seams. Today 3000-6000 tonnes of coal a day is hauled in along a traditional branch railway until its scheduled closure in 2015.

IMMINGHAM, ENGLAND - AUGUST, 2008:

Europe’s largest Combined Cycle Gas Turbine uses natural gas from the North Sea via the neighbouring Total Refinery. The refinery is the largest in Europe and security both national and private is ever-present. The whole landscape is dominated by the light and roar of the petrochemical industry and represents a significant target to terrorist attack.

HULL, ENGLAND – FEBRUARY, 2008

Salt End in Hull is part of BP refinery on the North Bank of the Humber Estuary. Burning natural gas from the refining of crude oil it feeds steam and power to both the national grid and the neighbouring refinery. This makes the use of natural gas more efficient and only one cooling tower is required.

SHOREHAM, ENGLAND – JUNE, 2008

Built on the site of a former coal station, Shoreham now powers Brighton by piped natural gas. Its 100m tower and boiler are clad to resemble the cargo ships that still ply the neighbouring port.

SPALDING, LINCOLNSHIRE, ENGLAND – JANUARY, 2008

One of many new generation Combined Cycle Gas Turbines appearing around Britain. Spalding uses steam from its boilers at different declining pressures to ensure that maximum efficiency is reached from every tonne of gas burnt. Although the station still emits a large volume of CO2 it is much efficient than burning of coal or oil.

TILBURY, ENGLAND - FEBRUARY, 2008

Tilbury has the ability to process many different grades of coal which arrive at its docks from a number of international sources including Russia, the US and Asia. After the price of Gas rose, its once mothballed third unit was recommissioned into power. It is also the site of the first proposed Super Critical Coal Power Station. The new 1600 MW plant will rely on coal in the face of rising gas and oil prices.

COTTAM, ENGLAND - AUGUST, 2008

One of many coal fired plants still operating on the River Trent. Cottam is situated more than 8 miles from the nearest town of Retford and on the flat flood plain is highly visible day and night. At night the tungsten safety lights illuminate the water vapour to a seeming inferno.

DIDCOT, ENGLAND - AUGUST, 2008

In 2003 Didcot B BBC viewers voted this Gas Pipeline fed station Britain’s 3rd worst eyesore. A modern station, it serves the electricity needs of over 1.5 million people whilst only employing 100.

GRAIN, ENGLAND - FEBRUARY, 2008

Originally adjoining the now closed BP refinery, Grain is one of the few remaining oil-fired stations in the UK. Principally powered by heavy oil from the North Sea it is destined to be replaced by the controversial Kings North 2nd Generation Coal Plant. Its Chimney is the second tallest structure in the UK. The National Grid feeds most of its electricity to London, the green/purple light pollution of which can be clearly seen to the North.

KILLINGHOLME, ENGLAND – MARCH, 2009

Killingholme has modern design with forced cooling condensers pouring stiff belts of steam into the air. Running on gas both from the National Grid and direct pipeline to a refinery 27 miles down the coastline. It was built and conceived during Britain’s economic switch to natural gas. The image was captured from a small strip of mature woodlands that once covered this landscape.

FAWLEY, ENGLAND – FEBRUARY, 2009

Fawley Power Station is controversially powered by heavy oil piped directly from Faweley refinery. The bright lights and plumes from the refinery can be seen in the far background of the image. Thankfully Fawley only operates in times of peak demand supplementing the base load of the county.

WEST-BURTON, ENGLAND - JULY, 2008

The Welbeck Colliery at Meden Vale supplies West Burton until 2009 when its supply is predicted to run out. It is the site of a new CCGT that pipes gas direct from the coastline and North Sea oil field. Surrounded by agricultural land of Lincolnshire West Burton is a seemingly massive development within an otherwise peaceful landscape.

Share