Deptford Power Station

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Coordinates: 51.482395° N 0.020301° W

Deptford Power Station
Deptford Power Station shown within Greater London
OS grid reference	TQ374778
Operator:	Central Electricity Generating Board
Fuel:	Coal-fired
Commissioned:	1891
Decommissioned:	1983

Deptford Power Station was a coal-burning power station on the south bank of the Thames at Deptford, south east London.

The first station was designed in 1887 by Sebastian de Ferranti for the London Electric Supply Corporation. It was located at Stowage, a site to the west of the mouth of Deptford Creek once used by the East India Company. Built on an unprecendented scale and pioneering the use of high voltage (10,000V) AC current, the station was intended as a large scale plant to supply central London. The need to lay distribution cables across the streets of numerous local authorities stirred up a Board of Trade Inquiry, and concerns about the wisdom of concentrating so much generating capacity at a single site. The company also lost customers due to early teething troubles and the station was eventually opened in 1891 on a smaller scale than envisaged, though still at the time the world's largest power station. The original building, known as Deptford East, remained in use until 1957.

A new Deptford West station was built on a former dry dock site and opened in 1929 by the London Power Company. Designed by Leonard Pearce, this had a single large concrete chimney at the northern, riverside end. After nationalisation the station was extended following the same design in 1953, the new section having a similar chimney at each end. This section was known as Deptford West HP (High Pressure).

Generation ceased in 1983. Following demolition in 1992 the site was redeveloped as housing. The large coaling jetty in the Thames survives. A nearby park developed from a derelict site has been named Ferranti Park.