Thermal power station Regina Margherita

The station opened in 1895 and was originally installed in the Egidio e Pio Gavazzi silk factory in Desio (Milan), where it operated until 1954.

It supplied electricity for lighting and for the operation of 1,800 looms, generating alternating electric current at a voltage of 200 V.[1] Designed at the Polytechnic University of Milan, it was built by combining a steam engine from the Franco Tosi company of Legnano and a pair of alternators from the Brown Boveri company.

[2] The power station opened on November 9, 1895; the ceremony was attended by King Umberto I and Margherita of Savoy, to whom the plant was dedicated.

In order to exhibit the large machine, the floor was demolished, a stronger basement was built to support the item and the technical press consultation room was moved.

Then the Desio plant was dismantled using maintenance cranes and it was transported with a Riva lorry to the museum, where it was reassembled by hand and connected to an electric motor, coupled with a reduction gear, and set in motion.