Museum of Energy
The Silahtarağa Power Plant's first two engine rooms, built in 1913 and 1921 respectively, were reinforced and converted into the santralistanbul Museum of Energy, retaining as many original elements as possible.
The first step in the power plant’s conversion to Museum of Energy was to halt the corrosion of the turbine generators and other machinery which had set in as a result of disuse since the plant’s decommissioning in 1983. Teams of experts moved in to clean up the machinery and apply a protective anti-corrosion sealant. Thereafter, the number one turbine generator group was restored to its original appearance of 1931. Meanwhile, the number three turbine generator group, which had been dismantled when production stopped at the plant, was preserved exactly as left.
In the Museum of Energy's number one and two Engine Rooms, visitors currently have the chance to see the AEG, Brown Boveri, Siemens and Thomson Houston made turbine generator groups. These were the key components of electricity generation at the Silahtarağa Power Plant and reflect the advanced technology of the age.
The Control Room, which oversaw the generation of electricity and its transmission to different districts around Istanbul, has been preserved intact, complete with elaborate control devices and equipment. Throughout the long and painstaking preservation process, the exact position of missing or damaged items was marked and surviving items cleaned and sealed against corrosion.
The ground floor of the Museum of Energy is given over to theEnergy Play Zone, a fun-meets-science space featuring 22 interactive exhibits. It’s here that visitors get to generate electricity themselves, to morph into batteries, make magnetic sculptures, struggle with a stubborn suitcase, touch thousands of volts without thinking twice and dabble in many more scientific experiments. Besides, most of the panels, seminars and talks realized within santralistanbul since its foundation, were held at the Cinema/Seminar Room situated on the ground floor of the Museum of Energy.
