Shoreham Power Station is a 420MWe combined cycle gas-fired power station in Southwick, West Sussex. It was built on the site of the Shoreham B Power Station.

Brighton was one of the first towns in the UK to have a continuous supply of electricity. In 1882 Robert Hammond established the Hammond Electric Light Company and on the 27 February 1882 he opened the Gloucester Road Power Station. It was set up in the yard of Reed's Iron Foundry, and consisted of a Brush dynamo, driven by a Robey engine. This was used to power sixteen arc lamps on a 1.75 mi (2.82 km) circuit around the town centre, operating from dusk until 11pm every day. In spring 1883 another dynamo was brought into operation, powered by a Marshall engine, powering a 40 lamp circuit.

In 1885 the Hammond Electric Light Company went into voluntary liquidation, and the system was bought by the Brighton Electric Light Company who registered on 16 December 1885. It further extended the system, building a new station on the same site, consisting of three 40-lamp Brush dynamos, powered by a Fowler engine. This station was later extended by another two Brush dynamos and another Fowler engine.

By January 1886 the company's system had increased to include 1,000 filament lamps on 8 mi (13 km) of circuit, and in 1887, it was decided for the company to provide a day time service. A 16-lamp dynamo and a Hornsby engine were installed to take the day-time load. In the same year, the system was switched from DC to AC, and electricity was generated at 1,800 volts (V) using single-phase Elwell Parker and Mordey alternators. Voltage was reduced to 100 V by Lowrie-Hall transformers mounted on customers' rooftops. By 1887, 34 arc lamps and 1,500 filament lamps were being supplied by five Brush dynamos, on a 15 mi (24 km) system of overhead lines. In 1890 the company became the Brighton and Hove Electric Light Company.

The local authority, the Brighton Corporation, had obtained a provisional order allowing them to generate electricity in 1883 but had never the need to exercise it. However, in 1890 it acquired the site for a power station and opened its own municipal North Road Power Station on 14 September 1891. It supplied at 115 V DC, using four Willans-Goolden generating sets, two at 45 kilowatts (kW) and two at 120 kW, provided with steam by three Lancashire boilers. Another two Willans engines driving 240 kW dynamos were added later. In 1894, the Brighton Corporation bought out the Brighton and Hove Electric Light Company.

By 1904 the North Road station's capacity was at 5,935 kW, with six Lancashire boilers and ten Babcock & Wilcox boilers, steaming nineteen Willans engines, coupled directly to DC generators. It was decided a larger station would be needed, and the site was chosen at Southwick. When this station was opened in 1906 the old station became less required, and so in 1908 North Road station was closed down.

The construction on the Southwick power station commenced in 1904, its site chosen because of its position on the harbour, meaning plentiful supply of water for cooling, and access to seaborne coal. The first phase of the station opened in June 1906, with a generating capacity of 5,470 kW. A 15,000 kW turbo alternator was installed in 1931 in place of a former 2,500 kW set. A 30,000 kW set in 1933 the latter powered by three new tridrum 150,000 Ib. per hour Stirling boilers. The station was given various modifications and extensions, and by 1946 it had a capacity of 190 megawatts (MW).

In 1937 the first of two 37,500kW Brush-Ljungstrom turbo alternators was commissioned the 2nd one following in 1939.