White Bay Power Station | |
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White Bay Power Station c.1930's
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Country | Australia |
Location | White Bay, New South Wales |
Coordinates | 33°52′00″S 151°10′36″E / 33.86667°S 151.17667°ECoordinates: 33°52′00″S 151°10′36″E / 33.86667°S 151.17667°E |
Status | Decommissioned |
Commission date | 1917 |
Decommission date | 1983 |
Thermal power station | |
Primary fuel | Coal |
The White Bay Power Station is a heritage listed former coal-fired power station on a 38,000 m2 (410,000 sq ft) site in White Bay, in the suburb of Rozelle, 3 km (2 mi) 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.
To satisfy the power requirements for the expansion of the Sydney tram and rail network, the New South Wales Government 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 in 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 (SHFA) for around A$4m.