[1] The station supplied the central areas of Preston including Fishergate, Friargate, and Church Street.

[2] By 1921 the plant comprised a 1,000 kW steam turbine-driven alternator providing a 440 Volt, 50 Hz, 3-phase AC electricity supply.

The turbines and engines were supplied with a total of 94,000 pounds per hour (11.84 kg/s) of steam from coal-fired boilers.

Plans were developed to acquire land at Penwortham south-west of Preston for the construction of a new, larger facility which was to become the Ribble Power Station.

[5] The site at Penwortham, south of the River Ribble, was selected because it was opposite Preston Docks enabling the supply of coal, and was on a tidal river (with a tidal range of 22 ft or 6.7 m) which provided cooling water for condensing steam in the power station.

From the outset the station was planned to have an initial generating capacity from two 12.5 MW turbo-alternators, with space available for two further sets; these were installed in 1928 and 1930.

[5] This included the Fylde and towns in East Lancashire; Blackburn in the centre of the area; Colne and Nelson in the north-east; and Leyland, Walton-le-Dale and Chorley in the south.

An underground transmission line was constructed between Preston and Blackburn operating at 33 kV and had an electrical capacity of 10 MW.

[6] Ribble power station was officially opened on the 22nd of July 1925 by Sir John Snell, Chairman of the Electricity Commissioners.

This was replenished from local coal mines and delivered via the Preston Docks branch railway.

Ribble power station was connected to an electricity grid ring which included the power stations at Southport, Lister Drive (Liverpool), Warrington and Westwood (Wigan); this was one of three electricity rings in the North West.

[9] The growth in the generating capacity at Ribble power station is shown in the table.

The electricity generating output of Ribble power station, in GWh, from 1923 to 1947 is shown on the following graph.

The step change in electricity generation in 1944 and 1945 illustrates the commissioning of the first two 31.5 MW turbo-alternators in the 'B' station.

The drop in electricity generation in 1946 and 1947 illustrates the effects of the fuel crisis in 1946–7 when the availability of coal was severely restricted.

With the construction of the 400 kV super grid in the 1960s a major high-voltage sub-station was built in Penwortham.

[14] Ribble power station was closed by the CEGB and ceased to generate electricity on 25 October 1976.