The Power Station (Building No. 13) is both a generating station and a rotary converter sub-station. Power is received from Spiers Falls, forty miles away, at a potential of 25,000 volts and is stepped down to 10,000 volts and distributed through a double circuit switchboard (giving separation of lighting and power circuits) to the various factories of the General Electric Works and to the Schenectady Railway Company. All switching is done at 10,000 volts by means of remote control switches. Five double commutator converters supply direct current to the shops at 125, 250 and 500 volts, and one three-phase 250 Kw. stepdown transformer supplies current at 120 volts for the alternating current system of the Testing Department.
[Photo: Rotary Converters in Power Station (Building No. 13): original size (30K) | 4x enlarged (100K)]
The station contains 16 Babcock & Wilcox boilers, equipped with American and Roney stokers with forced draft, and with coal and ash conveyors. A pumping plant draws water from the Mohawk River, about 1600 feet distant. The boilers supply steam for general manufacturing and testing purposes and for fire pumps as well as to the engines. Building No. 13, and Building No. 12 nearby, contain nine engines direct connected to various alternating current and direct current generators. In Building No. 13 is the first General Electric turbine-alternator, a 500 Kw. unit.
Four distinct circuits supply the factories from this station. The direct current switchboard is so arranged that any machine or machines may be placed upon any circuit. The generators are all double commutator machines and the two ends are connected in series or in parallel, as the demand may require. The normal load on this station is about 6000 Kw. The Works' installation includes 1300 motors, 2200 arc lamps and numerous incandescent and Meridian lamps.