Spencer Street Power Station was a

Victorian era In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the period of Queen Victoria's reign, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. The era followed the Georgian period and preceded the Edwardia ...

coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal is formed when ...

and (later)

oil An oil is any nonpolar chemical substance that is composed primarily of hydrocarbons and is hydrophobic (does not mix with water) & lipophilic (mixes with other oils). Oils are usually flammable and surface active. Most oils are unsaturated ...

-fired

power station A power station, also referred to as a power plant and sometimes generating station or generating plant, is an industrial facility for the generation of electric power. Power stations are generally connected to an electrical grid. Many ...

which operated on

Spencer Street Spencer Street is a major street and thoroughfare in the central business district of Melbourne, Victoria. The street was gazetted in 1837 as the westernmost boundary of the Hoddle Grid. Spencer Street is named for John Spencer, 3rd Earl Spenc ...

in central

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

, Australia. The station was opened in 1894, and supplied power to the city's residents, as well as being a wholesale supplier to other municipal distributors. It came under the management of the State Electricity Commission of Victoria in 1941. By the 1960s the capacity of the station reached 109 MW, but was used only for peak load. The station was closed in 1982 after becoming redundant. Eventually deemed an

eyesore An eyesore is something that is largely considered to look unpleasant or ugly. Its technical usage is as an alternative perspective to the notion of landmark. Common examples include dilapidated buildings, graffiti, litter, polluted areas, and e ...

, demolition commenced in 2006 and was completed in 2008.

History

Spencer Street Power Station was built by the City of Melbourne to supply electricity to the city, initially to provide street lighting, opening in 1894. Arthur James Arnot designed and managed Spencer Street power station from 1894 to 1901 for the Melbourne City council. A Station:- The first power plant consisted of 24

General Electric General Electric Company (GE) is an American multinational conglomerate founded in 1892, and incorporated in New York state and headquartered in Boston. The company operated in sectors including healthcare, aviation, power, renewable en ...

direct current Direct current (DC) is one-directional flow of electric charge. An electrochemical cell is a prime example of DC power. Direct current may flow through a conductor such as a wire, but can also flow through semiconductors, insulators, or eve ...

(DC) generators installed in four groups of six. Each group was belt driven by a 300HP

Austral Otis Austral Otis was a Melbourne engineering works established in 1887 on site of former Langlands foundry in Grant Street, South Melbourne. It was one of the largest manufacturers of elevators in Australia and continued as the Otis Elevator Company. ...

horizontal compound slow speed steam engine. The terminal voltage was 3 kV DC and the electricity was used for street lights,

tram A tram (called a streetcar or trolley in North America) is a rail vehicle that travels on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport are ...

s, lifts and city buildings. Steam was supplied from four Babcock & Wilcox water tube boilers. In 1897 four General Electric 75 kW

alternator An alternator is an electrical generator that converts mechanical energy to electrical energy in the form of alternating current. For reasons of cost and simplicity, most alternators use a rotating magnetic field with a stationary armature.Gor ...

s were added. They were belt driven by the existing engines. Output was 2 kV and 72 Hz. In 1900 a Peach three-crank compound 2500HP steam engine was installed. It was coupled to a Johnson & Phillips 120 kW alternator. The

alternating current Alternating current (AC) is an electric current which periodically reverses direction and changes its magnitude continuously with time in contrast to direct current (DC) which flows only in one direction. Alternating current is the form in whic ...

(AC) was used in the surrounding suburbs via

transformer A transformer is a passive component that transfers electrical energy from one electrical circuit to another circuit, or multiple circuits. A varying current in any coil of the transformer produces a varying magnetic flux in the transformer' ...

s. 1905 saw further expansion with one 200 kW alternator, 4x350 kW vertical Belliss steam engines that were direct-coupled to DC generators at 460 V DC. This was to augment the city supply. Steam was supplied by another four Babcock boilers. In 1907 the first

turbine A turbine ( or ) (from the Greek , ''tyrbē'', or Latin ''turbo'', meaning vortex) is a rotary mechanical device that extracts energy from a fluid flow and converts it into useful work. The work produced by a turbine can be used for generating ...

s were installed, with two 750 kW British Westinghouse

Parsons Parsons may refer to: Places In the United States: * Parsons, Kansas, a city * Parsons, Missouri, an unincorporated community * Parsons, Tennessee, a city * Parsons, West Virginia, a town * Camp Parsons, a Boy Scout camp in the state of Washingt ...

4.4 kV

single-phase In electrical engineering, single-phase electric power (abbreviated 1φ) is the distribution of alternating current electric power using a system in which all the voltages of the supply vary in unison. Single-phase distribution is used when load ...

machines added. The old arc lighting plant was removed to provide the space. 1908 saw three Allen

triple-expansion engines A steam engine is a heat engine that performs mechanical work using steam as its working fluid. The steam engine uses the force produced by steam pressure to push a piston back and forth inside a cylinder. This pushing force can be trans ...

installed, each coupled to 750 kW generator and more boilers. A Siemens 4.4 MW 6.6 kV three-phase alternator was added in 1913. Next year, two William Robinson 5 MW turbo-alternators were added. 1917 saw the further addition of a 6.5 MW turbo-alternator from British Westinghouse. This was a three-phase, 6.6 kV 50 Hz machine, and ran at 1500 RPM. In 1927 four 6 MW three-phase 6.6 kV turbo-alternators were installed. At this time all the DC generators were replaced with motor-generators generators. By 1923 there were a total of 20 Babcock water tube boilers, each having a steam capacity of 17,000 lb/hr at 165PSI and . Smoke was directed into two smoke stacks each high. B+C Stations- In 1949 two 15 MW Parsons turbo-generators were installed in an adjacent site. Steam was supplied by large oil-fired water tube boilers. Ten years later two 30MW Parsons machines were added and called C station. Steam was supplied by more water-tube boilers that were fitted with pulverized fuel equipment for burning coal, but for pollution reasons they were only oil fired. In 1941 the station came under the management of the State Electricity Commission of Victoria and became part of the state electricity network. Progressive upgrades saw the capacity of the station rise to 109 MW by the 1960s, but newer power stations in the

Latrobe Valley The Latrobe Valley is an inland geographical district and urban area of the Gippsland region in the state of Victoria, Australia. The traditional owners are the Brayakaulung of the Gunai nation. The district lies east of Melbourne and nes ...

meant that the station was retained for peak use only.

Abandonment and demolition

After closure in 1982, the power station sat idle awaiting redevelopment. In 2003 a man was arrested for painting the slogan 'No jobs on a dead planet' on the chimney. A girl died in 2004 after falling down a seven-metre hole inside the power station. In May 2006 the site was sold for $7.6 million to Russian developers Vladimir Stepanov, Dmitri Bril and Oleg Mogilnitskiy, with asbestos removal and demolition commencing soon after to allow the redevelopment of the site. The historic tower started being dismantled in September 2007 and the site was fully cleared by April 2008.

Gallery

Image:Spencer Street Power Station demolition2.jpg, Demolition in October 2007 Image:Spencer Street Power Station demolition.jpg, Demolition in March 2008

Notes

Bibliography

* {{FormerVictorianPowerStation Coal-fired power stations in Victoria (Australia) Heritage sites in Melbourne Demolished buildings and structures in Melbourne Buildings and structures demolished in 2008 2008 disestablishments in Australia 1894 establishments in Australia Buildings and structures completed in 1894 Melbourne City Centre