The historical building was constructed in the last century, thus becoming one of the first power plants in our city. It was operated for a long time to prevent a lack of power but failed to keep working in the same mode and ceased to exist. Read more about the interesting history of the founding and establishment and further fate of the Philadelphia power station on the Delaware River at philadelphia.name.
The beginning and development of the energy facility
It all started back in 1917 on the Delaware River, which runs along Philadelphia. There, in the same year, the construction of one of the first power plants in the city began.
The local electric company sponsored the establishment of the power station. Making reasonable investments, enthusiasts wanted to make sure that the townspeople could consume the necessary electricity. In those days, there was a noticeable lack of light. However, Delaware Power Station changed things for the better.
The project was designed by architects Windrim and Eglin. In 1917, they visualized the station as a large public building with classical details. The head of the founders’ company planned to create another energy facility in Delaware to provide the necessary generating capacity for years.
The directors approved the president’s initiatives, which provided for an expenditure of $18,000,000 over $6,500,000. A stable energy supply depended on the future power plant. That is why the construction process was accelerated. However, the targeted result had not been achieved, as the project was frozen two months later. It lacked financing because chairman McCall got into debt.
After the end of the First World War in 1920, construction was finally resumed. The company Stone & Webster built a factory where appropriate equipment was manufactured for the establishment of the station. By the end of the same year, two generators were put into operation with a capacity of thirty thousand kilowatts, which were installed in the first unit of the station.
Interesting facts and conclusion of the history of the power plant
After commissioning the first generators, the power facility did not stop its operation for a single day. Because of the expansion of the enterprise in 1954, production was put on hold. The reason for this was the start of the third generator in the winter of 1923, which also had a total power of thirty thousand kilowatts. The company bought two more power engines for the Delaware Station in 1950, which were installed only three years later.
The fact that the old unit of the Delaware Station required 146 men to operate the 195,750 kilowatts and the new section with its 272,000 kilowatts required only 24 workers became a major step forward in the art of electricity generation.
Historically, the Delaware Station, in addition to power plants, also made a mark on the pages of the history of the naval fleet. A long time ago, on the banks of the Delaware River, on the site of the future power facility, the US government ordered the construction of an iron submarine. The latter was named Alligator, which appeared to destroy the Confederate steam frigate Merrimack. However, it never happened.
In February 2004, two turbine generators of the power station stopped. At that time, the facility was owned by the company Exelon Generation. In an interview with local media, the management of the enterprise noted that they have no specific plans for the former glorious energy station, but retain legal ownership. The then executives of one of Philadelphia’s earliest power plants said they were looking for new investors to resume electricity generation. Still, it didn’t go far.
