Battersea Power Station
| Battersea Power Station | |
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Battersea Power Station
Viewed from the north bank of the Thames in August 2012 |
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 Location of Battersea Power Station in Greater London
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| Official name | Battersea A and B power stations |
| Country | England |
| Location | Nine Elms, Battersea, Wandsworth, South West London |
| Coordinates | 51°28′54″N 0°8′41″W / 51.48167°N 0.14472°WCoordinates: 51°28′54″N 0°8′41″W / 51.48167°N 0.14472°W |
| Status | Decommissioned and awaiting redevelopment |
| Construction began | 1929 (A station) 1945 (B station) |
| Commission date | 1933–35 (A station) 1953–55 (B station) |
| Decommission date | 1975 (A station) 1983 (B station) |
| Construction cost | £2,141,550 (A station) |
| Owner(s) |
London Power Company (1939–1948) British Electricity Authority (1948–1955) Central Electricity Authority (1955–1957) Central Electricity Generating Board (1957–1983) |
| Thermal power station | |
| Primary fuel | Coal |
| Secondary fuel | Oil (A station only) |
| Power generation | |
| Units operational |
A station: Two 69 MW Metropolitan-Vickers (MV) British Thompson-Houston and one 105 MW Metropolitan-Vickers B station:Two 100 MW and one 72 MW Metropolitan-Vickers |
| Nameplate capacity | 1935: 243 MW 1955: 503 MW 1975: 488 MW 1983: 146 MW |
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Website http://www.battersea-powerstation.com/ |
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Battersea Power Station is a decommissioned coal-fired power station located on the south bank of the River Thames, in Nine Elms, Battersea, an inner-city district of South West London. It comprises two individual power stations, built in two stages in the form of a single building. Battersea A Power Station was built in the 1930s, with Battersea B Power Station to the east in the 1950s. The two stations were built to a nearly identical design, providing the long-recognized four-chimney layout. The station ceased generating electricity in 1983, but over the past 50 years it has become one of the best known landmarks in London and is Grade II* listed. The station's celebrity owes much to numerous popular culture references, which include the cover art of Pink Floyd's 1977 album Animals and its appearance in the 1965 Beatles' film Help!
The station is one of the largest brick buildings in the world and is notable for its original, lavish Art Deco interior fittings and decor. The building has remained largely unused since its closure, and the condition of the structure has been described as "very bad" by English Heritage, which included it in its Heritage at Risk Register. The site was also listed on the 2004 World Monuments Watch by the World Monuments Fund.
Since the station's closure, numerous redevelopment plans were drawn up from successive site owners. In 2004, when a redevelopment project by Parkview International stalled, the site was sold to the administrators of Irish company Real Estate Opportunities (REO), who bought it for £400 million in November 2006 with plans to refurbish the station for public use and build 3,400 homes across the site. This plan fell through due to REO's debt being called in by the state-owned banks of the UK and Ireland. The site was put up for sale in December 2011 through commercial estate agent Knight Frank. It has received interest from a variety of overseas consortia, most seeking to demolish or partly demolish the structure. The combination of an existing debt burden of some £750 million, the need to make a £200 million contribution to a proposed extension to the London Underground, requirements to fund conservation of the derelict power station shell, and the presence of a waste transfer station and cement plant on the river frontage made commercial development of the site a significant challenge.
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