[1] The Corporation built a power station in Wolverhampton Street Walsall (52°35’10”N 01°59’33”W)[2] which began supplying electricity in 1895.

The plant at the station consisted coal-fired boilers supplying steam to Chandler compound engines coupled directly to Parker two-pole dynamos.

The electricity output in MWh from Walsall (Birchills) power station is shown on the graph.

[7] The plant at Walsall power station included:[5] 12 × Babcock & Wilcox 180,000 lb/h boilers operating at a pressure of 650 psi and 875 °F (22.7 kg/s, 44.8 bar and 468 °C).

The boilers supplied steam to: 6 × British Thomson-Houston 34 MW, 2-cylinder, double flow, impulse reaction turbines 3,000 rpm coupled to 3-phase 50 Hz alternators operating at 33/36 kV Diesel engine house-set comprising 2 × 2 MW engines.

[5] The station was officially opened on 30 September 1949 and was one of the largest and high output power plants.

The electricity output in GWh from Walsall power station is shown on the graph.

The number of consumers and electricity sold was:[5] Walsall power station was decommissioned on 1 March 1982[13] after 33 years in use, and the stub of railway serving it west of Ryecroft Junction, was closed at the same time.

The power station was closed as it was no longer deemed to be efficient, when much newer coal power stations built later in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s with six or eight cooling towers can generate up to ten times more electricity as technology improves with bigger generators becoming more apparent on less coal consumption i.e. 2000 MW+ than Birchills could.