Ground was broken for the original Kearny Station on July 12, 1923. Thomas A. Edison helped inaugurate and synchronize this AC station in 1925. At that time it was the largest electric generating station in New Jersey. The plant originally had six coal-fired units, which were converted to oil, all of which have subsequently been retired, the last in 2006.[3][4]
Starting in 1933, a GE Binary Mercury Steam Turbine Generator system was operated at the Kearney Station, composed of a 20-MW mercury vapour turbine and a 30-MW steam turbine.
Starting in 1967, the steam units were supplemented by peaker units, three of which have been since retired. There are ten simple-cycle peaker units, four of which burn natural gas and liquid fuel that went commercial in 2001 and the remaining six are only natural gas which went commercial 2012.
In October 2012, six new GE LM6000 natural gas-fired units capable of producing over 270 net megawatts of power were put into use.[5][6][7][8]
