Pembroke Power Station, Wales 1971

This authentic 1970s colour photograph, captured in 1971, documents the original Pembroke Power Station located on the southern shore of the Milford Haven waterway in Pembrokeshire, Wales. The archival image features the massive 2,000 MW oil-fired station, often referred to as one of the “Hinton Heavies” due to its design by CEGB chief engineer Sir Christopher Hinton. Completed between 1965 and 1968, the station was one of the largest of its kind in Europe at the time, dominated by a single 217.3-metre (713 ft) reinforced concrete chimney. The industrial complex includes four 500 MW turbo-alternator units and three auxiliary gas turbine generators, the first of which were commissioned in November 1969. In the foreground, the calm waters of the Haven reflect the station’s heavy industrial silhouette, while the background reveals the sprawling infrastructure of the neighbouring oil refineries. This factual record preserves the peak of the station’s operational life in 1971, decades before its closure in 1997 and subsequent demolition between 2000 and 2003 to make way for the modern gas-fired replacement.