Lake Echo Power Station
The Lake Echo Power Station is a conventional hydroelectric power station located in the Central Highlands region of Tasmania, Australia. The power station is situated on the Upper River Derwent catchment and is owned and operated by Hydro Tasmania.
| Lake Echo Dam | |
|---|---|
  Location of Lake Echo in Tasmania | |
| Country | Australia |
| Location | Central Highlands, Tasmania |
| Coordinates | 42°09′36″S 146°38′24″E |
| Purpose | Power |
| Status | Operational |
| Opening date | 1956 |
| Owner(s) | Hydro Tasmania |
| Dam and spillways | |
| Type of dam | Embankment dam |
| Impounds | Dee River; Harrys Creek |
| Height | 19 metres (62 ft) |
| Length | 305 metres (1,001 ft) |
| Dam volume | 160 thousand cubic metres (5.7×106 cu ft) |
| Spillways | 1 |
| Spillway type | Controlled |
| Spillway capacity | 92 cubic metres per second (3,200 cu ft/s) |
| Reservoir | |
| Creates | Lake Echo |
| Total capacity | 725,490 megalitres (25,620×106 cu ft) |
| Catchment area | 100 square kilometres (39 sq mi) |
| Surface area | 406.9 hectares (1,005 acres) |
| Lake Echo Power Station | |
| Coordinates | 42°15′00″S 146°36′36″E |
| Operator(s) | Hydro Tasmania |
| Commission date | 1956 |
| Type | Conventional |
| Hydraulic head | 168 metres (551 ft) |
| Turbines | 1 x 32-megawatt (43,000 hp) English Electric Francis-type turbine |
| Installed capacity | 32 megawatts (43,000 hp) |
| Capacity factor | 0.9 |
| Annual generation | 84 gigawatt-hours (300 TJ) |
| Website hydro | |
| [1] | |
Technical details
Part of the Derwent scheme that comprises eleven hydroelectric power stations, the Lake Echo Power Station is the first station on the Dee River section of the scheme. The power station is located aboveground on the shores of the Dee Lagoon formed below Lake Echo on the Dee River. Water is diverted from Lake Echo by a single 2.5-kilometre (1.6 mi)-long flume and 700-metre (2,300 ft)-long canal. It then descends 168 metres (551 ft) through a single steel penstock to the station with a surge tower located midway along the penstock.[2][3]
The power station was commissioned in 1956 by the Hydro Electric Corporation (TAS) and the station has one English Electric Francis turbine, with a generating capacity of 32 megawatts (43,000 hp) of electricity. The station building houses a single alternator and the turbine has a fully embedded spiral casing and water flow is controlled via a straight flow main inlet valve and a relief valve designed to prevent spiral casing overpressure. The station output, estimated to be 84 gigawatt-hours (300 TJ) annually,[1] is fed to TasNetworks' transmission grid via an 11 kV/110 kV three-phase English Electric generator transformer to the outdoor switchyard.[2]
Lake Echo is one of the main headwater storages for the Dee Lagoon, Bradys, Binney, Tungatinah Lagoon and the Lower River Derwent catchments, releasing water to a further seven stations downstream.[3]
References
- "Register of Large Dams in Australia". Dams information. Australian National Committee on Large Dams. 2010. Archived from the original (Excel (requires download)) on 12 December 2013. Retrieved 23 June 2015.
- "Lake Echo Power Station: Technical fact sheet" (PDF). Derwent Catchment. Hydro Tasmania. Archived (PDF) from the original on 17 June 2023. Retrieved 18 June 2023.
- "Derwent: Lake Echo Power Station". Energy. Hydro Tasmania. Retrieved 5 July 2015.