Photograph albums recording the construction and early operational life of Cottam power station, 1963-c.1970

Set of twelve black and white photo albums documenting the construction, commissioning and early operation of Cottam power station by the Central Electricity Generating Board, 1963-c.1970

The power station built at Cottam, commissioned in 1963 and opening in 1968, represents the centralised, large capacity power stations which were the centrepiece of Britain's post-war energy generation strategy, second in scale only to the construction of the national motorway network. Cottam had a generation capacity of 2 gigawatts, provided by four 500 megawatt generation units, the design of which became the CEGB's standard for use in other stations - 49 were eventually built in total. This collection of photographs records in detail the construction, commissioning and entry into service of the power station.