Hey, I'm doing a physics exam tomorrow on the National Grid and one of the possible questions is why did Charles Merz put the first major power station (the Neptune Bank power) near Newcastle Upon Tyne?
It doesn't state specifically in the Wikipedia article, but it's highly likely that its placement on the River Tyne near the North Eastern Railway's (NER) North Tyneside Loop gave it both a ready source of water for creating steam, and the ability to transport coal directly to the station via railway.
