Poatina Hydroelectric Power Station

Dam history

Miena Dam No. 1

The earliest suggestions of damming the Great Lake for hydroelectricity date from 1897, although, by 1904, the proposals became feasible. In 1909, it was identified that power was needed to smelt zinc ores from Broken Hill. A private company was approved to develop the scheme to divert the Shannon River into the nearby Ouse River – a drop of approximately 300 metres (980 ft). Whilst construction commenced in 1910, capital to fund the project was limited. In 1914, the Tasmanian Government took over the works in progress and its structure became the forerunner to the Hydro-Electric Department,^[6]: 2 later the Hydro Electric Commission, and now, Hydro Tasmania. The first dam, called the Miena Dam No. 1, was commissioned in 1916, to supply water for the generational of hydroelectricity at the Waddamana Power Station. The power station had capacity of 7 megawatts (9,400 hp) and the transmission line supplied the City of Hobart.^{[6]: 2 [4]}

Miena Dam No. 2

As demand for power grew, the initial dam was expanded by a second dam, called the Miena Dam No. 2. This multiple arch buttress dam was completed in 1922. It was the first dam in Australia constructed of reinforced concrete.^[6]: 6 The dam wall was 12 metres (39 ft) high and 360 metres (1,180 ft) long. Water from the Great Lake was used to supply the Waddamana Power Station that had increased capacity to 49 megawatts (66,000 hp).^[6]: 2 The No. 2 dam wall was submerged, following construction of the 1967 rock-filled dam.^[4]

Miena Rockfill Dam

The third and current dam, called the Miena Rockfill Dam, was completed in 1967, located downstream of the No. 2 dam. This earthen rock-filled dam wall is 28 metres (92 ft) high and 1,136 metres (3,727 ft) long. When full, the expanded Great Lake has capacity of 3,156.64 gigalitres (2,559,130 acre⋅ft) and covers 1,761.2 hectares (4,352 acres), drawn from a catchment area of 399 square kilometres (154 sq mi). The controlled spillway has a flow capacity of 58 cubic metres per second (2,000 cu ft/s). An additional dam wall was raised in 1982, to replace the earlier 1967 dam wall.^[1]

Reservoir

A naturally formed and shallow lake, the reservoir has been dammed several times for the purposes of generating hydroelectricity. The Great Lake supports three power stations, including the Poatina, Tods Corner, and Trevallyn power stations.^[7] Additionally, the Great Lake also supports irrigation of 35 square kilometres (14 sq mi) of adjacent farmland.^[1] An enhancement of the irrigation scheme, expected to deliver 25 gigalitres (20,000 acre⋅ft), commenced in 2024 and was expected to be completed in late 2026.^[8]

21st-century developments

In early 2016, as a result of an ongoing water shortage in Tasmania's hydro system, the output generated by the Poatina Power Station dropped to one-fifth of capacity.^[14]

In June 2020, Hydro Tasmania awarded a contract to Andritz AG to begin replacement of ageing infrastructure, most of which was sixty years old. Estimated to cost approximately A$200 million, the first stage of the project involved replacement of four of the Pelton-type turbines with four 60-watt (0.080 hp) Andritz turbines, together with improved electronic monitoring,^[15][16] completed in 2024. A second contact to Andritz AG, awarded in 2023, was to replace another turbine with a 60-watt (0.080 hp) Andritz turbine.^[17]

In a separate venture in 2023, Neoen, a multi-national company based in France, proposed the installation of two grid batteries, located approximately 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) east of the power station.^[18] Expected to be completed in two stages by 2027, the batteries will store a combined 380 megawatts (510,000 hp)/860 megawatt-hours (3,100 GJ).^[19] An additional battery storage facility, proposed by Akaysha Energy, is expected to deliver 100 megawatts (130,000 hp)/200 megawatt-hours (720 GJ).^[20][21]