Fawley Power Station, former oil-fired power station in Hampshire, England
Fawley Power Station was a large oil-fired facility on the Hampshire coast that began operations in 1971 and supplied electricity to the region. The site had four turbines with 500 megawatts of capacity each, with much of the complex built below ground level, leaving only distinctive features like the control building and boiler house visible from above.
The plant was constructed in the mid-1960s and opened in 1971 to meet rising electricity demand. After operating for more than 40 years, it was shut down in 2013 due to new European emissions regulations that made continued operation no longer viable for the aging facility.
The name refers to the location in Fawley on the south coast. The plant became a local landmark over its 40 years of operation, shaping how residents understood energy production and employment in the area, and serving as a reference point in the community's daily life.
The site is not publicly accessible as demolition has removed most of the original structures. Visitors can view the remaining foundations and land from the nearby shore or water, where the ongoing transformation of the site is visible.
The control building had a distinctive disc-shaped design so recognizable that it appeared in multiple 1970s film productions including Rollerball and later in Mission Impossible and Star Wars. This architectural feature made it memorable and helped filmmakers represent futuristic or industrial settings on screen.
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