Lake Echo Power Station

Dam in Central Highlands, Tasmania

42°09′36″S 146°38′24″E / 42.16000°S 146.64000°E / -42.16000; 146.64000PurposePowerStatusOperationalOpening date1956 (1956)Owner(s)Hydro TasmaniaDam and spillwaysType of damEmbankment damImpoundsDee River; Harrys CreekHeight19 metres (62 ft)Length305 metres (1,001 ft)Dam volume160 thousand cubic metres (5.7×10^⁶ cu ft)Spillways1Spillway typeControlledSpillway capacity92 cubic metres per second (3,200 cu ft/s)ReservoirCreatesLake EchoTotal capacity725,490 megalitres (25,620×10^⁶ cu ft)Catchment area100 square kilometres (39 sq mi)Surface area406.9 hectares (1,005 acres)Lake Echo Power StationCoordinates42°15′00″S 146°36′36″E / 42.25000°S 146.61000°E / -42.25000; 146.61000Operator(s)Hydro TasmaniaCommission date1956 (1956)TypeConventionalHydraulic head168 metres (551 ft)Turbines1 x 32-megawatt (43,000 hp)
English Electric Francis-type turbineInstalled capacity32 megawatts (43,000 hp)Capacity factor0.9Annual generation84 gigawatt-hours (300 TJ)Website
hydro.com.au/energy/our-power-stations/derwent-0/lake-echo-power-station^[1]

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.

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

^ ^a ^b "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.
^ ^a ^b "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.
^ ^a ^b "Derwent: Lake Echo Power Station". Energy. Hydro Tasmania. Retrieved 5 July 2015.

External links

Hydro Tasmania page on the Lower Derwent

Energy in Tasmania

Hydroelectric

Wind farms

Natural gas

Tamar Valley
Former: Bell Bay

Organisations

Interconnectors

Basslink
Future: Marinus Link

Other

List of power stations in Tasmania

Central Highlands region of Tasmania, Australia

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Artillery Knob
King Davids
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Cradle Cirque - Bluff Cirque	Barn Bluff Cradle Smithies
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Pelion Range	Pelion East Pelion West