Richmond Power Station
Richmond Power Station was a
The former power station is listed on the Victorian Heritage Register.[2]
History
The Richmond Power Station was completed in 1891 by the New Australian Lighting & Traction Company. It was one of the first alternating current (AC) electricity generation plants in Victoria. The building was designed by
As demand increased, the plant went through a series of upgrades, the first being an expansion to the engine house. In 1905, the first of two
The company's name was changed in 1908 to the
In 1929, the station was taken over by the State Electricity Commission of Victoria, which relegated Richmond to a peak-load facility. A 15 MW turbo-alternator was installed on the site of the older plant in 1930. That machine ran at 3000 RPM at 6.6 kV at 50 Hz. It was of great value to Melbourne during the power shortages of the 1950s and was still in service in the 1960s.
After World War II, Melbourne experienced severe power shortages. There was no way of procuring steam plant from the usual English manufactures for several years, but a Swiss firm came to the rescue in 1950. A Brown Boveri three-cylinder steam turbo alternator, with a capacity of 38 MW, was installed. That plant was very cheap to run in the 1950s with 180,000 pounds per hour (82,000 kg/h) of steam supplied by each of the two Velox oil-fired boilers, at 600 psi (4,100 kPa) and 850 °F (454 °C).
Although obsolete by the 1970s, the station continued to operate very reliably as a peak-load plant until 1982, when its inefficiency, dilapidated condition and pollution led to its closure.
Redevelopment
The building lay derelict in a large pocket of SECV owned land for many years. Its
In the early 1990s, Victoria's electricity industry was privatised by the Kennett Liberal State Government. This saw this the sale of much of the SECV's surplus assets. The station and surrounding buildings were sold for development as an office park. All surrounding buildings, most of which dated from the 1930s and 1940s were demolished.
Under architects Metier 3 the original station building and
External links
References
- CITY OF YARRA HERITAGE REVIEW
- Edwards, Cecil (1969). Brown Power. A jubilee history of the SECV. State Electricity Commission of Victoria.