Occupying the site that is now Tate Modern’s Turbine Hall was the world’s largest coal-fired power station.  Built alongside Meredith Wharf, it opened to grand acclaim in 1891 and was known initially as the Pioneer Station.  The discovery of electromagnetism and electrochemistry was made earlier in the 19th century by Southwark-born Michael Faraday. He and others (Thomas Edison) harnessed the power of electricity. With the emergence of CLELC’s new power station in 1893, its practical manufacture of electricity began thundering over Bankside, disrupting the lives of hundreds of local residents who, till then, had worked on the river and a myriad of manufacturing industries. The CLELC demanded and won the space to expand; whole neighbourhoods were quickly razed in the process…