Bankside electricity substation handed over to Tate Modern

UK Power Networks has handed over half of its former electricity substation at Bankside to Tate Modern to allow the expansion of the gallery.

the culmination of a six-year £60 million substation refurbishment in the building alongside the modern art gallery's Turbine Hall.

New electrical equipment has been installed inside the refurbished substation and has been connected to London's existing electricity distribution network.

Modernising the substation has released more than 1,000 square metres of space for the expansion of Tate Modern on the southern side of the building. The rebuilt substation has halved in size, enabling the art gallery to grow.

As an additional benefit, heat emitted by the six electricity transformers in the new substation will be captured and used for heating and hot water in the new building. At full capacity, the system will have the potential to provide about 600kW of heat.

the sub station has an innovative waste heat recovery system in our new substation will eventually be turning heat from our electricity transformers into hot water and heat for the gallery. It will demonstrate energy efficiency on a grand scale