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Wivenhoe Power Station

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Country
  
Australia

Commission date
  
1984

Nameplate capacity
  
500 MW

Upper res. capacity
  
28,600-megalitre

Lower reservoir
  
Lake Wivenhoe

Owner
  
CS Energy

Status
  
Operational

Units operational
  
2 x 250 MW

Opened
  
1984

Upper reservoir
  
Splityard Creek Dam

Hydraulic head
  
76 m (249 ft)

Wivenhoe Power Station

Location
  
Wivenhoe Pocket, Queensland

Address
  
Split Yard Creek QLD 4306, Australia

Similar
  
Wivenhoe Dam, Kogan Creek Power St, Mica Creek Power Station, Tarong Power Station, Tinaroo Hydro Power St

The Wivenhoe Power Station is situated between the Splityard Creek Dam and Lake Wivenhoe. The Splityard Creek dam is situated in hills adjacent to Lake Wivenhoe and is about 100 metres (330 ft) above it.

The Wivenhoe Dam has been built across the Brisbane River about 80 kilometres (50 mi) by road from the centre of Brisbane, the capital of the state of Queensland, Australia. The body of water held behind the dam is called Lake Wivenhoe.

Operation

The pumped storage hydroelectricity power station consists of two circular concrete silos, each of about 32 metres (105 ft) internal diameter. Each of the silos houses a 250 megawatts (340,000 hp) turbine generator spinning at 120 rpm and pump set, giving a total capacity of 500 megawatts (670,000 hp).

During the pumping phase in the operating cycle the generator operates as an electric motor driving the pump to lift water from Lake Wivenhoe to the upper storage of the 28,600-megalitre Splityard Creek Dam. When peak demand for electricity occurs the flow of water is reversed, flowing from the upper to the lower storage and driving the turbine generator to generate electricity. The Splityard Creek dam has sufficient capacity for 10 hours of continuous power generation. It takes about 14 hours of pumping to refill it. Wivenhoe is used in 20% of peak hours, reducing peak price obtained by other power plants.

The power station is owned and operated by CS Energy and has 13 onsite employees. Twin 275 kV transmission lines connect the power station to Queensland's grid system.

A second hydro-electric power station known as Wivenhoe Small Hydro powered by water discharging from the Wivenhoe Dam into the Brisbane River commenced operation in March 2003. It has a power output of 4.5 MW.

References

Wivenhoe Power Station Wikipedia