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turbines manufactured by King's SB&SV company, each equipped with four runners 41 inches (104 cm) in diameter, producing 1000 HP. These turbines drove a 750 kW generator at 114 rpm. The generators produced 12,000 volts three-phase power at 38 Hz. Two exciter turbine/generators
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watershed runs to the
Adirondack Mountains and covers 4,600 square miles (12,000 km). Construction started July 1897 but was delayed by a major storm in November; the first generator was tested in May 1898 and power delivered to the General Electric plant in July 1898. The original five turbines
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used open switches operated by 3-foot (0.91 m) wooden sticks. This arrangement was quite dangerous by modern standards and resulted in one fatality and several near miss accidents. In 1902 the switchgear was replaced by oil-enclosed lever-operated switches, and in 1920 the system was again
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about 900 feet (270 m) long and 20 feet (6.1 m) high, and a powerhouse. The powerhouse is 220 feet (67 m) wide and 50 feet (15 m) long, made of reinforced concrete. The horizontally mounted turbines in upstream water passages drive shafts running through packing boxes on the
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Most of the power generated by the
Mechanicville plant was sent to the General Electric plant in Schenectady. Some 40 Hz power was used locally for lighting and motors until 1949. In 1899, the Hudson River Power Company took over control of the plant from the original developers, and began
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was installed in the plant to provide supplemental capacity during low water flow; this drove the No.7 hydraulic generator through a rope drive. This was only kept for five years. One turbine failed in 1932 and has not been replaced. Each of the turbines has three water-lubricated
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with a portion of the hydro-power energy. Because running a plant that still uses all of the original 1800s machinery, mining bitcoin has been three times more profitable than selling electricity back to the national grid.
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were initially installed to provide 125 V and 250 kW of DC excitation power for the main generators, but DC power has been provided by a static system for more than 50 years. Generators and controls were designed by
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upstream headwall which is 6-foot (1.8 m) thick concrete. The arrangement of horizontal runners, packing box and generators was patented at the time; the layout of the station was a model for many future projects.
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of Ohio, selected the site for its hydro potential and proximity to industrial areas of Albany, Troy and
Schenectady. Hudson River Power Transmission was the company formed to develop the project. The
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The station was designed to produce 5000 kilowatts from seven hydraulic turbine-generator units. Extensive renovations starting in 2003 have turned the plant into a working museum.
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wood bearings in the turbine chamber and an oil-bath bearing in the generator hall. Up until about 1950, the speed of the turbines was regulated by a hydraulic governor.
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Only five of the initial turbines had been completed when all seven units were replaced with new turbines in 1902. The new turbines were made by the
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and were now rated at 1,250 horsepower (930 kW) and 125 rpm. The water passage for the turbines was modified and the
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renovated with remotely controlled oil-filled circuit breakers. The 1920 switchboard has been retained to the present day.
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DC transmission system sent power to the GE plant and also served to convert from 40 Hz to 60 Hz.
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IEEE Industry
Applications Magazine" part 1 Jan/Feb 2007, Part 2 Mar/Apr 2007, Part 3 May/June 2007.
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Industrial buildings and structures on the
National Register of Historic Places in New York (state)
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458:"National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination: Mechanicville Hydroelectric Plant"
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sets were installed so that the plant could provide power to standard 60 Hz networks.
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482:"Mechanicville hydro plant gets new life: Some of the energy is now mining bitcoin"
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National Register of Historic Places in New York (state)
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of the generators raised to 40 Hz. At the same time, a reciprocating
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Exterior of the
Mechanicville New York Hydroelectric plant in 1898
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Energy infrastructure on the
National Register of Historic Places
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National
Register of Historic Places in Saratoga County, New York
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operating the plant in parallel with a new larger plant called
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The initial design of the plant used seven horizontal
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Buildings and structures in Saratoga County, New York
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900 feet (270 m) feet long, an earth embankment
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between the Saratoga County shore and Bluff Island.
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History of the National Register of Historic Places
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254:. The district dates to 1897 and includes notable
295:Robert Newton King (1846–1943), president of the
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496:The Historic Mechanicville Hydroelectric Station
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1238:Hydroelectric power plants in New York (state)
194:Rice, A.C.; Stillwell-Bierce & Smith-Vaile
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1223:Queen Anne architecture in New York (state)
1192:National Register of Historic Places Portal
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297:Stillwell-Bierce & Smith-Vaile Company
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16:Power station in Saratoga County, New York
609:U.S. National Register of Historic Places
40:U.S. National Register of Historic Places
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1233:Energy infrastructure completed in 1897
568:, story in New York Times November 2002
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433:"National Register Information System"
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402:Restoration and conversion to a museum
370:Electrical switchgear and distribution
234:is a 18.3-acre (7.4 ha) national
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438:National Register of Historic Places
274:National Register of Historic Places
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282:In 2021, the plant started mining
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232:Mechanicville Hydroelectric Plant
32:Mechanicville Hydroelectric Plant
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291:Project origins and construction
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304:were completed by August 1898.
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456:John A. Bonafide (June 1989).
381:HVDC Mechanicville–Schenectady
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118:Show map of the United States
1143:National Historic Landmarks
408:Niagara Mohawk Power Company
394:In 1949 two motor-generator
246:. The listing included one
21:United States historic place
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566:For Love of a Power Plant
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896:Richmond (Staten Island)
199:Architectural style
178:18.3 acres (7.4 ha)
550:Renewable energy portal
522:New York (state) portal
326:S. Morgan Smith Company
308:Turbines and generators
252:contributing structures
132:Mechanicville, New York
632:Keeper of the Register
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49:U.S. Historic district
1152:Outside New York City
647:National Park Service
627:Contributing property
573:Harnessing the Hudson
462:National Park Service
443:National Park Service
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272:It was listed on the
248:contributing building
159:42.87806°N 73.67972°W
836:New York (Manhattan)
334:Corliss steam engine
93:Show map of New York
1139:Bridges and tunnels
386:The original 12 kV
330:operating frequency
164:42.87806; -73.67972
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560:Edison Tech Center
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637:Historic district
494:*James A. Besha,
445:. March 13, 2009.
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931:St. Lawrence
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314:Francis-type
311:
301:Hudson River
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267:Hudson River
260:
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128:Nearest city
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1132:Other lists
981:Westchester
911:Schenectady
706:Cattaraugus
486:(July 2021)
377:Spier Falls
238:located at
162: /
138:Coordinates
1207:Categories
971:Washington
891:Rensselaer
826:Montgomery
811:Livingston
716:Chautauqua
414:References
388:switchgear
263:powerhouse
256:Queen Anne
250:and three
203:Queen Anne
150:73°40′47″W
147:42°52′41″N
1113:Rochester
1108:Rhinebeck
1098:Peekskill
1059:Manhattan
916:Schoharie
796:Jefferson
679:by county
467:See also:
276:in 1989.
191:Architect
1172:Category
1118:Syracuse
1044:Brooklyn
991:Southern
986:Northern
956:Tompkins
946:Sullivan
921:Schuyler
906:Saratoga
901:Rockland
851:Onondaga
791:Herkimer
786:Hamilton
766:Franklin
751:Dutchess
746:Delaware
741:Cortland
736:Columbia
726:Chenango
691:Allegany
613:New York
359:spillway
216:89001942
1123:Yonkers
1026:Buffalo
1014:by city
998:Wyoming
941:Suffolk
936:Steuben
866:Orleans
856:Ontario
841:Niagara
816:Madison
776:Genesee
731:Clinton
721:Chemung
284:bitcoin
1049:Queens
1021:Albany
966:Warren
961:Ulster
926:Seneca
886:Queens
881:Putnam
876:Otsego
871:Oswego
861:Orange
846:Oneida
831:Nassau
821:Monroe
781:Greene
771:Fulton
711:Cayuga
701:Broome
686:Albany
620:Topics
1039:Bronx
1012:Lists
1003:Yates
976:Wayne
951:Tioga
806:Lewis
761:Essex
696:Bronx
677:Lists
498:, in
183:Built
1182:List
756:Erie
186:1897
175:Area
611:in
363:dam
242:in
211:No.
1209::
460:.
441:.
435:.
422:^
321:.
601:e
594:t
587:v
464:.
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
