The Reading Power Station is a power station supplying electrical power to the Tel Aviv area in central Israel. It is located in north-western part of the city at the mouth of the Yarkon River, and was built in 1938 during the British Mandate of Palestine. Reading Power Station is named after Daniel Rufus Isaacs, 1st Marquess of Reading, a chairman of the Israel Electric Corporation. The power station was made up of number of power producing units -two units called 'READING A' two units, called 'Reading B', built in the 1950s, capable of producing 50 megawatts, and two units, called 'Reading D', built in the 1970s, each capable of producing 214 megawatts. At present only READING D is in operation. Reading Power Station has continuously been accused by environmental groups of causing severe pollution, both to the air in the Tel Aviv urban area, as well as to the water of the Yarkon River. In early 2006, the station was partially shut down, due to failure to comply with environmental regulations which required it to shift to natural gas instead of crude oil as its main fuel.
