Coal Bunkers

The coal bunkers at White Bay Power Station sit above the burner level of the boiler house, a row of steel-lined hoppers fed from the coal conveyor and feeding into the burner chutes below. The bunkers are heavy steel structures, riveted and welded, lined with abrasion-resistant plate where the coal flow worked against the steel for decades. Each bunker tapers to a discharge gate at the bottom, with the gate mechanism still in place. Above, the conveyor delivery point is visible at the top of the bunker line. Coal residue sits at the bottoms of the bunkers in dark crusts, accumulated where the last loads sat after the boilers were shut down.

White Bay's coal arrived by ship at the wharf below the plant and travelled up the coal conveyor gallery to the bunkers above the boilers. From the bunkers, the coal dropped through metered feeders into the burner level, where it was burned to raise steam. The system ran continuously through every operating shift across the plant's working life from 1917 to Christmas Day 1983. After closure the bunkers were emptied of most of their coal, but a residue remained in the corners and along the seams. The bunkers themselves are still in place above the boiler hall.