The station, also known as Willesden power station, was located to the south of the Euston to Birmingham railway on a site bounded by Acton Lane, the Grand Union Canal and the Dudding Hill railway line.

[1] The first 'A' station was built by the Metropolitan Electric Supply Company Limited (METESCo) and commissioned in 1899.

METESCo supplied electricity to Finsbury, Holborn, Paddington, the City of Westminster, Acton, Greenford, Hanwell, Southall and Brentford.

These included Manchester Square, Sardinia Street, Amberley Road (see below), Rathbone Place and Whitehall Court.

[2] At commissioning in late 1899 the A station was equipped with 16 10,000 Ib/hr Babcock & Wilcox water-tube boilers, fitted with superheaters.

The advantage was intimate mixing of powdered coal and air giving better combustion and higher boiler efficiencies.

[3] In 1925 a 15,000 kW three-phase 50 Hz turbo-alternator was installed, together with four Babcock marine of 50,000 Ib/hr in place of some of the original plant.

It was one of four stations (the others being Bow, Deptford East and Grove Road Saint John's Wood) which continued following the formation of the London and Home Counties Joint Electricity Authority in 1925, which resulted in closure of many smaller stations in central London.

In 1967 there were complaints from boaters that ash from Acton Lane power station was silting up the Grand Union canal.

[14] Electricity output from Acton Lane 'B' power station during its operational life was as follows.

[16] The disused power station was used as a film set in Aliens (1986) and as the 'Axis Chemical Works' in Batman (1989).

[17] The Metropolitan Electric Supply Company Limited also owned and operated a power station at Amberley Road in Westbourne Green adjacent to the Grand Union Canal (51.522632°N 0.192518°W).