The plant, constructed in the Federation Anglo-Dutch architectural style, was fully operational from 1917 with two further phases of development occurring between the years 1923–1928 and 1945–1948 which further increased the stations electricity output.

White Bay was the longest serving of Sydney's metropolitan power stations and ceased production on Christmas Day in 1983.

The SHFA produced a conservation management plan for the White Bay area, which was endorsed by the Heritage Council of New South Wales in 2004.

The SHFA undertook conservation works including roof repairs to the buildings to make them weatherproof and reduce further degradation to the remaining internal plant and equipment.

[3] White Bay Power Station boasted an interesting mixture of equipment, including 25 Hertz and 50 Hz alternators, mostly from British manufacturers.

Owing to the delay of the third Dick Kerr alternator, a single Curtis 7.5 MW turbo-alternator from General Electric of Schenectady, New York, USA was brought into temporary use in 1917 in the unit number four position.

This comprised three Australian General Electric turbines with British Thomson-Houston alternators which ran at 1,500 rpm, with a continuous rating of 22 MW, they were numbered 6, 7 and 8.

The No.5 turbo-alternator, an English Electric 18.75 MW 25 Hz, continued to operate for some time afterwards, using steam diverted from the new high pressure boilers.

As the Electricity Commission of New South Wales built new power stations, White Bay became a peak load supplier.

Like Pyrmont, which was also fitted with 50 MW turbo-alternators in the 1950s, some of the generating equipment at White Bay saw little more than twenty years of regular use before decommissioning.

It retains within its fabric, and in the body of associated pictorial, written archives and reports and oral history recordings, evidence for the development of technology and work practices for the generation of electrical power from coal and water.

[2] As a result of its remarkably intact survival, it retains the unique ability to demonstrate, by its location, massing, design, machinery and associated archives, the influence and dominance that early power-generating technology exerted on the lives and urban fabric of inner cities in the first half of the 20th century.

The extant items within the surviving operational systems are of an impressive scale and exhibit a high degree of creative and technical achievement in their design and configuration.

They encompass all aspects of the generation of electrical power, and represent all phases from the inter-war period through to the more sophisticated technologies of the mid 20th century.

Externally, it is a widely recognised and highly visible landmark, marking the head of White Bay and the southern entry to the Balmain Peninsula and its industrial waterfront.

It is a potent symbol of the area's industrial origins and working traditions, aspects of community identity that are strongly valued today by both older and new residents.

It also forms part of a closely related group of large-scale industrial structures and spaces (White Bay Container Terminal, Glebe Island Silos, Container Terminal and Anzac Bridge) which along with the White Bay Hotel, define a major entry point to the city from the west.

[6][2] White Bay Power Station was listed on the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 2 April 1999 having satisfied the following criteria.