Battersea Power Station in London is located on the south bank of the River Thames. It is a massive brick structure, and has become one of the best known London landmarks, largely due to its cultural appearances.

The station stopped producing electricity in 1983 and is now on the World Monument Fund’s list of 100 Most Endangered Sites.

The station complex is actually made up of two power stations, each built in an identical design, which gives the structure its familiar four chimney layout. Station A was built in 1933 and Station B was built in 1955.

The style of Battersea Power Station is called brick-cathedral, and it was a popular design for power stations in the 1930s and 1940s.

Station A was fitted out in Art-Deco style, with Italian marble in the turbine area and parquet floors and wrought iron railings throughout. Due to post-war economies, Station B was fitted out in more practical and less expensive stainless steel.

The station was a coal-fired power station, and it had an annual coal consumption of 1,000,000 tonnes.

It was a thermal power station, heating water to turn the steam turbines that generated electricity, with the station extracting 340,000,000 gallons a day for its usage. Once the water went through the system it was cooled and discharged back into the river.

Station A was shut down in 1975 after 40 years of service, and Station B soon followed in 1983. Outdated generating equipment and the shift towards oil, gas, and nuclear power for electricity generation led to the decision to close the power station.

The Central Electricity Generating Board wanted to demolish the buildings and sell the land, but a campaign had been launched after the closure of Station A which led to the station being declared a heritage site in 1980. The Central Electricity Generating Board had no choice but to preserve it.

Over the years there have been many plans to develop and repurpose the power station, but none have been approved, and in the interim the power station continues to age and fall into disrepair. Large sections of the roof were removed to allow the removal of some machinery and were not replaced, leading to further deterioration of the structure.

See it while you can, for Battersea Power Station in London may not last forever.

Visiting Battersea Power Station

Battersea Power Station, 188 Kirtling Street, Battersea, SW8 5BP

Telephone: 0845 262 2625

Email info@battersea-powerstation.com

Photo courtesy: moppet65535

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