White Bay Power Station

Construction of the White Bay Power Station was begun by the New South Wales Government Railways in 1912 to satisfy the power requirements for the expansion of the Sydney tram system, and later the rail network. The plant was fully operational from 1917.

The station was expanded in a number of phases until 1948; it supplied power to the electricity grid after 1958. In 1984 the station was decommissioned and became derelict.

White Bay Power Station was the longest serving Sydney power station and is the only one to retain a representative set of machinery and items associated with the generation of electricity in the early and mid-twentieth century.

It retains within its fabric, and in the body of associated pictorial, written archives and reports, and oral history recordings, evidence for the development of technology and work practices for the generation of electrical power from coal and water. This development of power generation at White Bay contributed to the expansion of the economy of Sydney and New South Wales.

The government confirmed that the White Bay Power Station would be retained for cultural and creative purposes as part of the Bays West Place Strategy and precinct planning; remediation works started in 2021.