Turbine Hall Basement North End

The north end of the turbine hall basement at White Bay Power Station is accessed by a concrete stair from the main floor above. The space at this end of the basement narrows where the A Station structure meets the later B Station additions, the floor levels slightly misaligned where the two phases of construction join. The condenser waterbox covers at this end are the older pattern with a smaller bolt circle and narrower flanges than the later B and C Station condensers further south. Pipework from the harbour intake runs along the north wall in large-diameter steel, the flanges bolted with square-headed bolts of the original 1910s specification. A cast-iron drain pot is fitted at the low point in the floor.

The north end of the turbine hall basement at White Bay Power Station corresponds to the A Station phase of construction, the earliest section of the plant brought on line in 1917. The NSW Government Railways began construction at White Bay in June 1912 and the first alternators were tested in July 1913 before the station came formally on line in May 1917. The A Station plant was progressively upgraded as the B Station phase (1923 to 1928) added capacity, with a further post-war re-equipment that installed two 50 MW Parsons units in the 1950s. Units 6 to 9 were decommissioned in 1975, leaving only the 50 MW Parsons units in service. The station shut down on Christmas Eve 1983. The heritage listing in April 1999 recognised the A Station structures for their early-twentieth-century significance.