The station had a generating capacity of 1,960 megawatts, enough electricity to power 2 million homes, equivalent to the area of Leeds and Sheffield.

[2] The station, one of the Hinton Heavies, began generating power in 1967,[3][4] making use of nearby coal reserves.

Large expanses of aluminium cladding and dark glazing were intended to give 'a cool and defining architectural expression that subtly contrasted with the warm concrete towers and the black-capped chimney'.

[2][14] There were 4 × 17.5 MW auxiliary black start Bristol Siddeley gas turbines on the site: these were first commissioned in May 1967.

[15][16] The eight 90 metre (300 ft) high cooling towers[17] were arranged in two rows of four located to the north of the main power station building.

[19] In 2005, a retrofit turbine upgrade was carried out to increase the station's efficiency and flexibility by improving part-load and two-shift operation.

The hill reaches a height of 160 feet (50 m) and stands out amongst the rather flat landscape of this part of North Yorkshire.

[27] In June 2019, the property development and investment group St Francis acquired 130 acres of the site for an undisclosed sum.

[1][28] In September 2015, the owners announced the plant was expected to stop producing electricity by the end of March 2016.

[32] Units 1 and 2 will generate for National Grid under the Supplementary Balance Reserve contracts providing 775 MW.

[33] Unit 4 returned to commercial operation on 16 September 2016 to generate 440 MW into the wholesale market following six months of deep maintenance.

The new power station would be a combined cycle gas turbine or 'CCGT' plant with three units generating 2,000 MW.

Outline plans for the new development involved demolishing the coal fired site and building a new gas connection.

[42][43] In late 2019, work began on clearing materials from the coal yard which was followed by asbestos removal and preparation of the towers for demolition.