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Among the earliest electric power stations in Australia, these stations are no longer in use. The Waddamana Power Station museum is a popular tourist site in the Central Highlands of Tasmania.
The harnessing of the waters of the Great Lake dates back to 1910 when the privately-owned Hydro-Electric Power and Metallurgical Co. Ltd. started work on an ambitious project to divert water from the Great Lake and the Shannon River over a steep drop into the valley of the River Ouse. They struck financial trouble and the State Government bought the partly completed works in 1914.
The newly formed Hydro-Electric Department began generating electricity at Waddamana in 1916. The initial capacity of 7 MW was expanded in stages to meet the rising demand for electricity. Following completion of a second dam at Miena in 1922 and the Liawenee Canal (bringing water into Great Lake from the Ouse River) in 1923, nine generators were operating at Waddamana with a total capacity of 49 MW. |
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The Shannon Power Scheme was constructed between 1924 and 1931 to make use of a drop of nearly 80 metres as the water flowed from Miena towards the Penstock Lagoon above Waddamana. It contributed a further 10.5 MW to generating capacity.
A second power station was built at Waddamana (Waddamana B) between 1939 and 1949. Its construction was associated with the building of a second canal to Penstock Lagoon. The three power stations continued operating between 1949 and 1964 with a total generating capacity of 107.5 MW.
The building of the Poatina Power Station to the north of the Great Lake led to the closure of Shannon in 1964 and Waddamana A in 1965. Waddamana B closed in 1994.
Waddamana Power Stations and Village - open as a museum.