The
White Bay Power Station is a heritage listed former
coal-fired
power station on a site in
White Bay, in the suburb of
Rozelle, from
Sydney in
New South Wales,
Australia.
The remains of the plant can be clearly seen at the western end of the
ANZAC Bridge on the junction of Victoria Road and Roberts Street. The station has been inactive for a number of years and the site is now inaccessible to the general public.
The station is often wrongly referred to as the
Balmain Power Station, a plant originally located in
Iron Cove, which has since been demolished.
History
To satisfy the power requirements for the expansion of the Sydney
tram and rail network, the NSW Department of Railways began the first phase of work on The White Bay Power Station in 1912.
The plant, constructed in the
Federation Anglo-Dutch architectural style, was fully operational from 1917 but two further phases of development, 1923–1928 and 1945–1948, saw the station expand even further. It remained under the control of the department until 1953 when the newly created
Electricity Commission of NSW took over. Ownership moved to
Pacific Power when NSW electricity was deregulated during 1995.
White Bay was the longest serving of Sydney's metropolitan power stations and ceased production on
Christmas Day in 1983. During the 1990s, the site was decontaminated, asbestos was removed and the majority of the remaining machinery taken away. In 2000, the plant was sold to the
Sydney Harbour Foreshore Authority...
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