The museum

The idea for a museum in Porto dedicated to the theme of transport emerged in the 1980s. During this period, and since the 1960s, the electric traction network was undergoing a profound change brought about by the introduction of buses and the widespread use of automobiles. The Porto Public Transport Service (STCP) then operated three modes of transport, with a network covering the entire Porto metropolitan area: electric tram, bus, and trolleybus.

However, it was the replacement of electric cars by the other two modes of transport that led to the decommissioning of part of the fleet and triggered a process of preserving vehicles representative of its history.

This collection of vehicles, recovered from the General Workshops of the Porto Public Transport Service, needed a space for its exhibition, and it is in this context that the former Massarelos Thermal Power Plant gains new importance. The building, once dedicated to electricity production, was, from the 1960s onwards, reduced to the role of a substation supporting the electric traction network. A small workshop also operated there to support the Marginal Line, the first to appear and the most important due to its length and geographical location.

The spaces that have been deactivated over the years thus allow for the reconversion of part of the power plant building into a museum space alluding to the network and the city with one of its first means of collective passenger transport.

On May 18, 1992, the Electric Car Museum was inaugurated with a collection of vehicles fully restored to their original design. Gradually, new vehicles were also preserved, bringing to the present day different types of electric cars, notable for their technological development and the role they played in the city. Thus was born the museum's collection, currently consisting of 28 vehicles, unique in the history of the electric car.

The installation of the electric traction network in the city, supporting the emergence of the electric tram from 1895 onwards, required the existence of supporting infrastructure. While initially the Porto Tramway Company relied on the old Arrábida Power Station, this quickly proved insufficient to guarantee the necessary electricity supply as the electric tram service expanded and the fleet grew.

Further along the riverfront, the Company uses its land to build a new power plant. The Massarelos Thermal Power Plant was born from a project by Eng. Luís Couto dos Santos, a civil engineer specializing in Public Works, a graduate of the Royal Polytechnic Academy of Porto.

The building, inspired by French factory structures, had two central naves dedicated to production and a chimney essential for the evacuation of gases resulting from coal combustion.

Using coal from the São Pedro da Cova mines, the steam engines were fueled, generating the mechanical energy necessary to operate the motors. Water was drawn directly from the Douro River, a factor that, even today, reinforces the undeniable presence of the building and its location.

The building was completed in 1911 by a Professor at the then Royal Academy of Sciences, and the Massarelos Thermal Power Plant was inaugurated and became fully operational in 1915 with the aim of producing and transforming the energy necessary for the city's electric tram network. Its energy supply capacity was able to electrify parts of the city's streets and the Luiz I Bridge during its heyday.

When the electric traction network, supported by a backup system with the Power Plant and Substations scattered throughout the city, reached its peak in the 1950s, production capacity was frequently compromised by technical difficulties. With frequent shutdowns, from 1955 onwards its production function gave way to a new stage of energy supply, through the Portuguese Electric Union. Inevitably, the building was reduced to the function of a transformer substation in 1960, the large generators and boilers were deactivated and dismantled, and part of its spaces were left empty.