 In 1924, Cape St James was chosen by A. H. Preece, the chief consulting engineer in-charge, as the location for the new power station as it had, firstly, a proximity to the sea for free and unlimited access to seawater for the power plant's water circulation and cooling systems; secondly, a proximity to sea-borne coal delivered by ships and/or barges; thirdly, a proximity to the Federated Malay States Railway (FMSR) train station at Tanjong Pagar for rail-borne coal and building materials required for the construction of the power station; lastly, a large area of five acres.In order to meet the urgent demands for electrical power, a 2,000 kW power generator was rushed to be completed.However, since more than half of the construction site was swampy and the natural conditions were tidal, a considerable amount of preliminary work to reclaim 12,000 square-yards was to be carried out before the actual work of laying the concrete foundations and erecting the power station's huge steel-frame skeleton could begin.