The historic White Bay Power Station will not be handed over to one major developer, after the Baird government rejected 13 private sector proposals for the site's transformation.

In a move away from the single-developer model that handed Lendlease swaths of land at Barangaroo and Darling Harbour, the 10-hectare site in Rozelle will be broken into smaller parcels and the development staged.

"This will not be an exercise where government hands over large areas of public land and gives away control, without ensuring good outcomes for the community," Planning Minister Rob Stokes said.

The government wants to turn the power station, which closed in 1983, and surrounding lands into a technology and innovation precinct. It called for the private sector to develop plans for the site last year.