History
Spencer Street Power Station was built by the City of Melbourne to supply electricity to the city, initially to provide street lighting, opening in 1894. [2] [3] Arthur James Arnot designed and managed Spencer Street power station from 1894 to 1901 for the Melbourne City council. [4] [5]
The first power plant, later known as A station, consisted of 24 General Electric direct current (DC) generators installed in four groups of six. Each group was belt driven by a 300HP Austral Otis horizontal compound slow speed steam engine. The terminal voltage was 3 kV DC and the electricity was used for street lights, trams, lifts and city buildings. Steam was supplied from four Babcock & Wilcox water tube boilers. In 1897 four General Electric 75 kW alternators were added. They were belt driven by the existing engines. Output was 2 kV and 72 Hz. In 1900 a Peach three-crank compound 2500HP steam engine was installed. It was coupled to a Johnson & Phillips 120 kW alternator. The alternating current (AC) was used in the surrounding suburbs via transformers. 1905 saw further expansion with one 200 kW alternator, 4x350 kW vertical Belliss steam engines that were direct-coupled to DC generators at 460 V DC. This was to augment the city supply. Steam was supplied by another four Babcock boilers. [6]
In 1907 the first turbines were installed, with two 750 kW British Westinghouse Parsons 4.4 kV single-phase machines added. The old arc lighting plant was removed to provide the space. 1908 saw three Allen triple-expansion engines installed, each coupled to 750 kW generator and more boilers. A Siemens 4.4 MW 6.6 kV three-phase alternator was added in 1913. Next year, two William Robinson 5 MW turbo-alternators were added. 1917 saw the further addition of a 6.5 MW turbo-alternator from British Westinghouse. This was a three-phase, 6.6 kV 50 Hz machine, and ran at 1500 RPM. To accommodate these changes, the in 1907 the original manager's residence and offices on the corner of Little Bourke Street were replaced by a large chimney and coal facility (this chimney was dismantled in the 1970s and reconstructed at the Williamstown Railway Museum, and the corner used as a coal yard). In 1908 an office building facing Spencer Street replaced the front part of the 1894 turbine hall, and the Economiser Building was constructed in the same year attached to the engine room which ran along Little Bourke Street. They were both designed by the Melbourne Electricity Supply Department in a red brick Edwardian style. [7]
In 1927 four 6 MW three-phase 6.6 kV turbo-alternators were installed. At this time all the DC generators were replaced with motor-generators generators. [8] By 1923 there were a total of 20 Babcock water tube boilers, each having a steam capacity of 17,000 lb/hr at 165PSI and 520 °F (271 °C). Smoke was directed into two smoke stacks each 175 feet (53 m) high.
Also in the 1927, the site become home to the power source for the hydraulic power system of pressurised water which had operated city elevators and hoists since 1887, operating from a site in the wharf area. An original cast iron water tank was relocated here to serve the remaining lifts on the system, which finally closed down in the 1967. [9]
In 1941 the station came under the management of the State Electricity Commission of Victoria and became part of the state electricity network. [1]
In 1949 two 15 MW Parsons turbo-generators were installed in an adjacent site, known as B station. Steam was supplied by large oil-fired water tube boilers. Ten years later two 30MW Parsons machines were added and called C station. Steam was supplied by more water-tube boilers that were fitted with pulverized fuel equipment for burning coal, but for pollution reasons they were only oil fired. A new office section was added to the station on the Lonsdale Street side which included a tall chimney in 1950s, all built in bare reinforced concrete. [7]
Progressive upgrades saw the capacity of the station rise to 109 MW by the 1960s, but newer power stations in the Latrobe Valley meant that the station was retained for peak use only.
Abandonment and demolition
After closure in 1982, the power station sat idle awaiting redevelopment. In 2003 a man was arrested for painting the slogan 'No jobs on a dead planet' on the chimney. [10] A girl died in 2004 after falling down a seven-metre hole inside the power station. [11]
By the 2000s the long abandoned site was seen as an eyesore. [12] In May 2006 the site was sold for $7.6 million to Russian developers Vladimir Stepanov, Dmitri Bril and Oleg Mogilnitskiy, with asbestos removal and demolition commencing soon after to allow the redevelopment of the site. [13] The chimney started being dismantled in September 2007 and the site was fully cleared by April 2008, [14] with the exception of the Edwardian office building an economiser hall around the corner of Spencer and Little Bourke Streets, and the hydraulic power water tank, which had been added to the Victorian Heritage Register in 2007. [9] In that year the site was sold to Far East Consortium, and plans for a four tower development with 2500 apartments were approved in 2010. [15] These included the retention of only the exterior walls of the 1908 office building, the placing of columns through the roof of the Economiser building, and the retention of the water tank in place with new steel supports over a laneway entry to the site. The development known as Upper West Side was completed by 2016. [16]
Bankside Power Station is a decommissioned electricity generating station located on the south bank of the River Thames, in the Bankside area of the Borough of Southwark, London. It generated electricity from 1891 to 1981. It was also used as a training base for electrical and mechanical student apprenticeships from all over the country. Since 2000 the building has housed the Tate Modern art museum and gallery.
Richmond Power Station was a coal fired power station which operated on the banks of the Yarra River in Richmond, Victoria, Australia from its construction in 1891 until its closure in 1976. It was one of the first alternating current (AC) electricity generation plants in the state. It has since been converted into office space and is the headquarters of international fashion brand Country Road and advertising agency CHE Proximity. The area in which it is located is now called Cremorne.
West Ham Power Station was a coal-fired power station on Bow Creek at Canning Town, in east London. It was often referred to informally as Canning Town Power Station.
Great Yarmouth Power Station is combined cycle gas turbine power station on South Denes Road in Great Yarmouth in Norfolk, England, with a maximum output of 420 MW electricity, opened in 2001. It is built on the site of an oil-fired power station, built in 1958 and closed and demolished in the 1990s. A coal-fired power station was built in Great Yarmouth in 1894 and operated until 1961. The station is operated by RWE.
Shoreham Power Station is a 420MWe combined cycle gas-fired power station in Southwick, West Sussex. It was built on the site of the Shoreham B Power Station.
Stuart Street Power Station was a coal-fired power station in Bradford, Manchester, England.
Pyrmont Power Station was an electricity generating plant located in the Sydney suburb of Pyrmont, New South Wales.
The Ultimo Power Station, or Ultimo Powerhouse, was an electricity generating plant located in the inner-city Sydney suburb of Ultimo, New South Wales. Commissioned in 1899, it was the first major power station in Sydney and was originally built to supply power for the electric tram network. Prior to this, a small installation had existed at Regent Street, which was brought into use on 15 June 1882. Additionally, experimental electric tram operations powered by small generators had been in intermittent use in Sydney since 1890.
The Worcester Power Stations were a series of hydro-electric and coal-fired generating stations providing electricity to the City of Worcester.
Ribble Power Station was a coal-fired electricity generating station on the River Ribble in Penwortham near Preston, Lancashire, England. The station was built by the Corporation of Preston to replace a small privately-run generating station in the town. It supplied electricity to Preston and the surrounding area from 1923 until 1976. The station was expanded with new equipment in 1943–47 which remained in operation until the power station was closed in 1976 and was subsequently demolished.
Blackburn power stations are a series of electricity generating stations that have provided electric power to the town of Blackburn and the wider area from 1895 to the present. The first station in Jubilee Street, Blackburn began operating in 1895. A new larger station known as Blackburn East or Whitebirk power station was commissioned in 1921 and was rebuilt in stages over the period 1942 to 1955. Whitebirk station closed in 1976. The 60 MW Blackburn Mill Combined Cycle Gas Turbine (CCGT) power station has generated electricity since 2002. The Blackburn energy from waste (EfW) plant is currently (2020) being planned.
Leicester power stations are a series of electricity generating stations that have provided electric power to the City of Leicester and the wider area from 1894. The first station, located within Aylestone gas works, supplied electricity for street lighting. The city's new electric tram system was supplied from 1904 by a station at Lero which operated until 1930. A large coal-fired power station was constructed at Freemans Meadow in 1922 and was operational until 1976. Finally a gas turbine power plant was commissioned in 1976.
The Lancaster power stations provided electricity to the Lancashire town and city of Lancaster and the surrounding area from 1894 to 1976. The first power station was built and operated by Lancaster Corporation and started generating electricity in April 1894. The second power station was built during the First World War near the Lune Aqueduct to provide electric power for a munitions factory. When the factory closed after the war the power station was purchased by the corporation to provide electric power throughout its supply area.
Portsmouth power station supplied electricity to Portsmouth and the surrounding area from 1894 to until 1977. The power station was built and operated by Portsmouth Corporation and started supplying electricity on 6 June 1894. It was located in St Mary Street and was redeveloped several times: including major rebuilds in 1927–29 and in 1938–1952, and expanded into a larger plot. The power station was closed in 1977; the two chimneys were demolished in 1981 and the main buildings in 1982.
Barrow-in-Furness power station supplied electricity to the town of Barrow-in-Furness and the wider area of Lancashire, England from 1899 to about 1960. It was owned and operated by Barrow-in-Furness Corporation until the nationalisation of the UK electricity supply industry in 1948. The power station was redeveloped throughout its operational life. Barrow-in-Furness Corporation also operated Coniston hydro-electric power station.
Halifax power station supplied electricity to the town of Halifax and the wider area from 1894 to the 1960s. It was owned and operated by Halifax Corporation until the nationalisation of the electricity supply industry in 1948. The power station was redeveloped several times and at its peak had a generating capacity of 48 MW.
Greenhill power station supplied electricity to the town of Oldham, England and the surrounding area from 1921 to 1960. It replaced the older Rhodes Bank generating station and was superseded by Chadderton B power station. Greenhill power station was owned and operated by Oldham Corporation until the nationalisation of the British electricity supply industry in 1948. The power station was built over the period 1921–24 and was decommissioned in 1960.
The Cardiff power stations supplied electricity to the City of Cardiff and the surrounding area from 1894 to about 1970. The original power station was in Riverside; a larger replacement station was built in Roath in the 1902, initially to supply the tramway system. They were both owned and operated by Cardiff Corporation prior to the nationalisation of the British electricity supply industry in 1948. The Roath power station was redeveloped in the 1920s and 1940s to meet the increased demand for electricity.
The Newport power stations supplied electricity to the town of Newport and the surrounding area from 1895 to the late 1970s. The original power station was in Llanarth Street which supplied electric lighting; a larger station, known as the East power station, was built in Corporation Road from 1903. They were owned and operated by Newport Corporation prior to the nationalisation of the British electricity supply industry in 1948. The East power station was redeveloped in the 1920s and 1940s to meet the increased demand for electricity.
St Helens power station supplied electricity to the Borough of St Helens and the surrounding area from 1896 to the late 1960s. The power station was developed by the St Helens Corporation which operated it up to the nationalisation of the British electricity supply industry in 1948. It was redeveloped several times to meet the increased demand for electricity.
