In 1920 the Zaara Street Power Station started with a Curtis GE turbo-alt from White Bay and a GE turbo-alt both delivering at. Additional power was needed in 1921 and another Vickers-Willans alternator was added. Steam was supplied by 4 Babcock & Wilcox WIF long drum chain grate boilers. Each boiler produced at and. 1922 saw a British Thompson Houston alternator and a Parsons alternator added. More power was required in 1924 and a BTH alternator installed. This was followed in 1928 by another BTH alternator. Terminal voltage for these machines was. Four extra boilers were installed from 1930 to supply these machines. The last change to the low pressure plant was that the No.1 Parsons alternator was removed and in its place a Bellis & Morcom alternator in 1936. Surplus capacity in the Railway Commissioner's power grid was sold to municipal councils and other bodies responsible for the supply of electricity to the general public. Zaara Street Power Station was connected to the grid of the Electricity Supply Department of the Newcastle Borough Council in 1917, and supplied much of Newcastle's electricity needs throughout the 1920s. Later known as the Newcastle Electricity Supply Council Administration, the Newcastle Borough Council also operated a small power station with two alternators and a capacity of approximately. Built in the 1890s, 'NESCA' Power Station was situated approximately one mile from Zaara Street, and closed in 1953.
In 1939 a different approach was taken to supply more power more reliably. The first addition was a Brush-Ljunstrom turbo-alternator. The next year a Fraser + Chalmers ex-Pyrmont alternator was placed in the No.3 position. Steam was supplied for all the high pressure plant by four Babcock & Wilcox high head boilers. Each boiler produced at and. A British Thomson Houston alternator was delivered in 1942 and a Westinghouse alternator installed in 1944. The No.5 machine became the number 7 alternator at this time to avoid confusion. Also, the No.2 machine was replaced with a slightly larger Dick Kerr alternator, ex-White Bay. This gave Zaara Street a new total output of. Control of Zaara Street was transferred from the NSWGR to the Electricity Commission of New South Wales on 1 January 1953. By the 1960s only the new boilers and sets 4, 5 & 7 were still in operation. The ECNSW continued to operate the power station until it was officially closed in 1975. Zaara Street Power Station was demolished in 1978, and all railway facilities in the vicinity were redeveloped into what is now known as The Foreshore. No traces of the power station have survived on the site.
