Francis turbines and sausage sizzles: Liapootah Power Station Open Day
Hydro Tasmania employees from across Tasmania came to the Central Highlands, to welcome a capacity crowd of over 240 people! Tickets to the event were free.
"It's really engaging for the public to get involved, seeing what we do and how we do it," said Brenden, Trainee Power Station Operator in the Derwent Scheme.
"It's really good to be able to bring people through from the public and share with them what we get to see every day and how we get to do it."
Gina providing a power station and safety overview to attendees.
Power station tours are such an important part of our offering to Tasmanians, especially to past employees and their families who have such vital connections to our company over the last 100+ years.
"People are really excited, and so many of them have visited a power station before," said Gina, Education Officer at Hydro Tasmania.
Our crew on the sausage sizzle
"The public needs to know what we do and why we're here, and they should also feel part of it and be proud of the energy we generate."
We’d like to thank everyone who joined us at Liapootah Power Station, and extend a special shout out to our own employees who took part in the day. Their passion and pride for what they do is what drives us.
Hydro Tasmania will continue to hold power station open days, but spaces are limited. Be the first to hear about our next open day by subscribing to The Spill.
Liapootah Power Station and the Derwent Scheme
Liapootah Power Station was commissioned in 1960 and houses three units with English Electric Francis turbines, coupled to English Electric generators. Starting in 2017 with one machine per year, each has seen a major refurbishment and modernisation. Each one was fully disassembled, with runners replaced and new digital control systems installed.
The rated flow of water through Liapootah running at maximum output of 84 MW is 105 cumecs (cubic meters per second). The station output passes through three banks of three 11/220 kV single-phase transformers and 220 kV outdoor switchgear. Each generator is connected to the transmission system in the Liapootah switchyard.
Liapootah Power Station from downstream.
Construction of the Derwent hydropower scheme began in 1934, with the final power station (Repulse) commissioned in 1968. The Derwent Scheme has an upper and lower section, visually resembling a Y shape. At Lake Liapootah, the scheme becomes run-of-river, with the same water generating energy multiple times.
Liapootah is the first power station of the lower section. A concrete gravity dam with a spillway crest drum gate is situated downstream of Tarraleah and Tungatinah Power Stations, diverting water through a 6.6km concrete lined tunnel. The drum gate is designed to lower automatically, to maintain a maximum pond level below the flood level at Tarraleah Power Station.
