G. A. W. Blackman, CBE, FEng

Chairman, Central Electricity Generating Board and Chairman, British Electricity International L td

For over thirty years, since its formation in 1958, the Central Electricity Generating Board (CEGB) has been at the forefront of technological advances in the design, construction, operation, and maintenance of power plant and transmission systems. During this time capacity increased almost fivefold, involving the introduction of thermal and nuclear generating units of 500 MW and 660 MW, to supply one of the largest integrated power systems in the world. In fulfilling its statutory responsibility to ensure continuity of a safe and economic supply of electricity, the CEGB built up a powerful engineering and scientific capability, and accumulated a wealth of experience in the operation and maintenance of power plant and systems. With the privatisation of the CEGB this experience and capability is being carried forward by its four successor companies — National Power, PowerGen, Nuclear Electric and National Grid.

At the heart of the CEGB’s success has been an awareness of the need to sustain and improve the skills and knowledge of its engineering and technical staff. This was achieved through formal and on-job training, aided by a series of textbooks covering the theory and practice for the whole range of technology to be found on a modern power station. A second edition of the series, known as Modern Power Station Practice, was produced in the early 1970s, and it was sold throughout the world to provide electricity undertakings, engineers and students with an account of the CEGB’s practices and hard-won experience. The edition had substantial worldwide sales and achieved recognition as the authoritative reference work on power generation,

A completely revised and enlarged (third) edition has now been produced which updates the relevant information in the earlier edition together with a comprehensive account of the solutions to the many engineering and environmental challenges encountered, and which puts on record the achievements of the CEGB during its lifetime as one of the world’s leading public electricity utilities.

In producing this third edition, the opportunity has been taken to restructure the information in the original eight volumes to provide a more logical and detailed exposition of the technical content. The series has also been extended to include three new volumes on ‘Station Commissioning’, ‘EHV Transmission’ and ‘System Operation’. Each of the eleven subject volumes had an Advisory Editor for the technical validation of the many contributions by individual authors, all of whom are recognised as authorities in their particular field of technology.

Ail subject volumes carry their own index and a twelfth volume provides a consolidated index for the series overall. Particular attention has been paid to the production of draft material, with text refined through a number of technical and language editorial stages and complemented by a large number of high quality illustrations. The result is a high standard of presentation designed to appeal to a w-ide international readership.

It is with much pleasure therefore that I introduce this new series, which has been attributed to British Electricity International on behalf of the CEGB and its successor companies. I have been closely associated with its production and have no doubt that it will be invaluable to engineers worldwide who are engaged in the design, construction, commissioning, operation and maintenance of modern power stations and systems.

March 1990