Generating Energy

Generating Energy. on the lower Schuylkill. , Several local electrical companies consolidated to form the Philadelphia Electric Company in 1902. A year later the company opened the first large-scale, centralized power plant in Philadelphia, the Schuylkill Station, or Station A (later A-1). This waterside plant took advantage of easy access to coal via barge and train, as well as easy access to water from the Schuylkill. It was designed to allow for easy expansion by adding new boilers and engine rooms parallel to existing room., When the Schuylkill Station opened, two turbines produced a combined 7,000 kW of power. The plant was constantly upgraded throughout the early 1900s to keep pace with increasing demands for electricity. More powerful turbines replaced early models and additional generators were installed. A little more than a decade after the station first opened, a new station (A-2) was built alongside the original station., The Schuylkill Generating Station continued to evolve throughout the 20th and 21st Centuries. Co-generation of steam for heating systems around the city began in 1950. Its technology has been further upgraded over the years to be cleaner and more efficient, which allows the plant to continue to serve hundreds of buildings more than a century after it was first built.