Wivenhoe Power Station


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 above it.
The Wivenhoe Dam has been built across the Brisbane River about 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 internal diameter. Each of the silos houses a turbine generator spinning at 120 rpm and pump set, giving a total capacity of.
During the pumping phase in the operating cycle the generator operates as a 240MW 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 CleanCo Queensland Limited a Queensland Government owned corporation. 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 much lower power output of 4.5 MW.