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15
Gate, and neighbourhood, and works on the Low Tension Continuous
Current (three wire) system, with batteries. The Company have
two stations, one at Kensington Court, and the other at Chapel
Place, Brompton Eoad, but your Committee confined its visit to the
former place. This Station is somewhat limited in size, being only
about 88 feet by 54 feet, and there is no room for extension outside
the existing structure. Space is economised as much as possible in
arranging the plant, but sufficient room has been obtained to permit
of the boilers, engines, and dynamos being placed on the ground
floor, while the upper part of the building is used for accumulators,
offices, &c. There are 7 engines of the Willans type, 3 of 90 h.p.,
and 4 of 200 h.p., and the same number of dynamos by Crompton.
The boilers (4 in number) are of the Babcock-Wilcox pattern. The
plant is capable of serving 15,000 8 c.p. lamps burning at the same
time which the Company's Officials consider to be equivalent to 45,000
lamps installed. At the present time the Company have about 32,000
lamps fixed. The station is designed to provide room for plant to
serve 100,000 lamps fixed, or 33,000 burning at the same time.
Your Committee is informed that the revenue per 8 c.p. lamp at this station
for the year 1892 has been 8s. 0d., while at the Chapel Place station
(in which district business premises keep open later) the revenue has
been about 12s. 0d. per 8 c.p. lamp. The average works' cost per unit
generated during the year 1892 has been ascertained to be l.05d.
while 2.01d. is given as the average cost for the year per unit sold, as
against 3.89d. for the year 1891. The difference in the cost per unit
generated and that sold is of course accounted for by the loss of current
in the mains, batteries, &c. These figures, it will be understood, do
not include any charges for management, depreciation or provision
for recoupment of capital expended, but simply cover the cost of coal,
stores, engineers' salaries, repairs and maintenance of plant and
machinery, rent, taxes, &c.
The Chapel Place station is designed to ultimately serve the same number of
lights as that at Kensington Court. At present there are 5 Willans
engines (3 of 90 h.p. and 2 of 200 h.p.) 3 dynamos by Siemens and 2
by Crompton, and 3 boilers by Babcock and Wilcox. About 16,000
8 c.p. lamps are now installed at this station, and as previously