White Bay Power Station, New South Wales
Encyclopedia
The White Bay Power Station is a heritage listed former coal
-fired power station
on a 38000 square metre 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 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
(SHFA) for around A$4m.
The SHFA has produced a conservation
management plan for the White Bay area and this was endorsed by the NSW Heritage Council in 2004. The future of the site, the now derelict buildings and the remaining contents remains uncertain.
manufacture with a continuous rating of 8.75 MW and a two hour rating of 10.5 MW. In 1925, two 1,500 rpm 25 c/s turbo-alternators from English Electric
Australia having a continuous rating of 18.75 MW were brought into use. In 1926, the first 50 cycle equipment was brought into use. This comprised three British Thomson-Houston
turbo-alternators which ran at 1,500 rpm, with a continuous rating of 22 MW. A Parsons
50 MW, 50 cycle turbo-alternator was commissioned in 1948, followed by a second identical unit in 1954. Two of the original Dick, Kerr units were removed to accommodate the Parsons.
The site was a popular venue for photographers and film and television productions. Productions at the power station include The Matrix Reloaded
, Red Planet and a number of Australian television
series, including Water Rats
, and advertisements. A metal staircase constructed during the making of The Matrix Reloaded remains in the boiler house. It has recently been used as a filming site for The Great Gatsby
Occasional licensed guided tours of the plant have been arranged by organisations such as the Historic Houses Trust
and Australia ICOMOS. Urban exploration groups such as Cave Clan
are also known to frequent the site on an unlicensed (presumably illegal) basis.
One of each piece of power plant machinery remains on the site to demonstrate the process of generating power from coal should public tours or redevelopment ever take place in the future.
Coal
Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock usually occurring in rock strata in layers or veins called coal beds or coal seams. The harder forms, such as anthracite coal, can be regarded as metamorphic rock because of later exposure to elevated temperature and pressure...
-fired power station
Power station
A power station is an industrial facility for the generation of electric energy....
on a 38000 square metre site in White Bay
White Bay, New South Wales
White Bay is a bay on Sydney Harbour with a surrounding locality near the suburbs of Balmain and Rozelle in the Inner West of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.-History:...
, in the suburb of Rozelle
Rozelle, New South Wales
Rozelle is a suburb in the inner west of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is located 4 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the Municipality of Leichhardt....
, 3 km (2 mi) from Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
in New South Wales
New South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
.
The remains of the plant can be clearly seen at the western end of the ANZAC Bridge
ANZAC Bridge
The ANZAC Bridge or Anzac Bridge , replacing the earlier Glebe Island Bridge, is a large cable-stayed bridge spanning Johnstons Bay between Pyrmont and Glebe Island in proximity to the central business district of Sydney, Australia...
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
Iron Cove, New South Wales
Iron Cove is a bay on the Parramatta River, in the inner-west of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It lies approximately due west of Sydney's central business district. It is surrounded by the suburbs of Birchgrove, Balmain, Rozelle, Lilyfield, Haberfield, Five Dock, Rodd Point,...
, which has since been demolished.
History
Tram
A tram is a passenger rail vehicle which runs on tracks along public urban streets and also sometimes on separate rights of way. It may also run between cities and/or towns , and/or partially grade separated even in the cities...
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
Federation architecture
Federation architecture refers to the architectural style in Australia, which was prevalent from around 1890 to 1920. The period refers to the Federation of Australia on 1 January 1901, when the Australian colonies collectively became the Commonwealth of Australia...
, 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
Electricity Commission of New South Wales
The Electricity Commission of New South Wales, sometimes called Elcom, was a statutory body responsible for the generation of electricity and its bulk transmission throughout New South Wales, Australia...
took over. Ownership moved to Pacific Power
Pacific Power (Australia)
Pacific Power was the state owned monopoly power generator in the state of New South Wales, Australia. The corporation was formed from the New South Wales Electricity Commission in 1995. It was broken up into TransGrid, Delta Electricity, Eraring Energy and Macquarie Generation in between 1995 and...
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
Sydney Harbour Foreshore Authority
The Sydney Harbour Foreshore Authority is a statutory authority set up by the Government of New South Wales in order to maintain the Port Jackson foreshore area. It maintains 4 km² of waterfront real estate in the foreshore area including Darling Harbour and The Rocks...
(SHFA) for around A$4m.
The SHFA has produced a conservation
Conservation biology
Conservation biology is the scientific study of the nature and status of Earth's biodiversity with the aim of protecting species, their habitats, and ecosystems from excessive rates of extinction...
management plan for the White Bay area and this was endorsed by the NSW Heritage Council in 2004. The future of the site, the now derelict buildings and the remaining contents remains uncertain.
Equipment
White Bay Power Station boasted an interesting mixture of equipment, including 25 and 50 cycle (Hertz) alternators from various British manufacturers. The earliest plant, completed in 1917, comprised three 750 rpm 25 c/s turbo-alternators of Dick, Kerr & Co.Dick, Kerr & Co.
Dick, Kerr and Company was a locomotive and tramcar manufacturer based in Kilmarnock, Scotland and Preston, England.-Early history:Having previously been known as W.B.Dick and Company the company had built all kinds of tramway equipment and rolling stock. From 1883 the company joined with John Kerr...
manufacture with a continuous rating of 8.75 MW and a two hour rating of 10.5 MW. In 1925, two 1,500 rpm 25 c/s turbo-alternators from English Electric
English Electric
English Electric was a British industrial manufacturer. Founded in 1918, it initially specialised in industrial electric motors and transformers...
Australia having a continuous rating of 18.75 MW were brought into use. In 1926, the first 50 cycle equipment was brought into use. This comprised three British Thomson-Houston
British Thomson-Houston
British Thomson-Houston was a British engineering and heavy industrial company, based at Rugby, Warwickshire, England. They were known primarily for their electrical systems and steam turbines. They were merged with the similar Metropolitan-Vickers company in 1928, but the two maintained their own...
turbo-alternators which ran at 1,500 rpm, with a continuous rating of 22 MW. A Parsons
C. A. Parsons and Company
C. A. Parsons and Company was a British engineering firm which was once one of the largest employers on Tyneside.-History:The Company was founded by Charles Algernon Parsons in 1889 to produce turbo-generators, his own invention. At the beginning of the Twentieth Century, the company was producing...
50 MW, 50 cycle turbo-alternator was commissioned in 1948, followed by a second identical unit in 1954. Two of the original Dick, Kerr units were removed to accommodate the Parsons.
Recent uses
The Matrix Reloaded
The Matrix Reloaded is a 2003 American science fiction film and the second installment in The Matrix trilogy, written and directed by the Wachowskis. It premiered on May 7, 2003, in Westwood, Los Angeles, California, and went on general release by Warner Bros. in North American theaters on May 15,...
, Red Planet and a number of Australian television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
series, including Water Rats
Water Rats (TV series)
Water Rats is an Australian TV police procedural broadcast on the Nine Network from 1996 to 2001. The series was based around the men and women of the Sydney Water Police who fight crime across Sydney Harbour and surrounding locales. The show was set on and around Goat Island in Sydney...
, and advertisements. A metal staircase constructed during the making of The Matrix Reloaded remains in the boiler house. It has recently been used as a filming site for The Great Gatsby
The Great Gatsby
The Great Gatsby is a novel by the American author F. Scott Fitzgerald. First published in1925, it is set on Long Island's North Shore and in New York City from spring to autumn of 1922....
Occasional licensed guided tours of the plant have been arranged by organisations such as the Historic Houses Trust
Historic Houses Trust, New South Wales
The Historic Houses Trust of New South Wales is an Australian-based statutory authority within the Office of Environment and Heritage in the New South Wales Department of Premier and Cabinet....
and Australia ICOMOS. Urban exploration groups such as Cave Clan
Cave Clan
The Cave Clan is a primarily Australian group dedicated to urban exploration.-History:The Cave Clan was founded on 26 January , 1986 by three Melbourne teenagers, Woody, Dougo and Sloth...
are also known to frequent the site on an unlicensed (presumably illegal) basis.
One of each piece of power plant machinery remains on the site to demonstrate the process of generating power from coal should public tours or redevelopment ever take place in the future.
See also
- ElectricityElectricityElectricity is a general term encompassing a variety of phenomena resulting from the presence and flow of electric charge. These include many easily recognizable phenomena, such as lightning, static electricity, and the flow of electrical current in an electrical wire...
- Electricity generationElectricity generationElectricity generation is the process of generating electric energy from other forms of energy.The fundamental principles of electricity generation were discovered during the 1820s and early 1830s by the British scientist Michael Faraday...
- Energy developmentEnergy developmentEnergy development is the effort to provide sufficient primary energy sources and secondary energy forms for supply, cost, impact on air pollution and water pollution, mitigation of climate change with renewable energy....