The station was built by the Watford Corporation Electricity Department starting with the installation of cables in 1899 with completion around 1900, near the banks of the River Colne.

[1] The power station was built near the Watford and Rickmansworth Railway and a rail siding spurred into the site allowing coal to be brought in from the north Midlands.

It appears the original coal-fired power station was a large gothic building with six chimneys; this was utilised until 1968, when the operation became uneconomic.

In the early 1970s the site was cleared for a new gas turbine power station.

In 1971 the CEGB announced that it was seeking consent to build a new set of gas turbine power stations to meet peak load demands.

[11] These would be located near old or redundant stations that were close to centres of demand.

The gas turbine station was decommissioned in 1990 and subsequently demolished.