Metropolitan District Railway Company

When the companies operating underground railways began to electrify them it was necessary for them to generate their own power as there was no National Grid. In 1897 the Metropolitan District Railway obtained permission to build a coal fuelled power station at Lots Road, at the junction of the Thames and Chelsea Creek. The station was completed by 1905. It provided most of the electricity needed by the London Underground and the tram networks, but was closed in 2002 when it became cheaper to purchase electricity than generate it.