West Coast refurbishment program

This potential was seen early on and in 1914, Mt Lyell Mining and Railway Company built Lake Margaret Power Station to power its mines. A century later, and we’re preparing to embark on an ambitious program of works to reinvigorate power stations in our west coast hydropower schemes, securing their role in Australia’s energy transformation.

Our western powerhouse comprises three hydropower schemes: Anthony-Pieman, King and Yolande. These schemes play an important role in Tasmania’s energy security, contributing approximately 25% of our total generation capacity. In this upcoming program of works, we’ll be focusing on reinvigorating 4 power stations in the Anthony-Pieman scheme. Completed in 1994, this scheme harnesses the power of the Pieman and Anthony rivers and Mackintosh and Murchison lakes. 

The Pieman catchment 

The stations we will be refurbishing are:

• Bastyan
  Located below Lake Rosebery, this station was commissioned in 1983 and has one Francis turbine with a generating capacity of 81 MW.
• Mackintosh
  Located at the base of Lake Mackintosh, this station was commissioned in 1982 and has one Francis turbine with a generating capacity of 89 MW.
• Reece (stage 1 and 2)
  The last power station in the scheme, sitting below Lake Pieman and south west of Corinna. This station was completed in 1987 and has two Francis turbines with a combined generating capacity of 244 MW.

Later on, the following stations will also be refurbished, however this work is a number of years away and therefore not listed in the project timeline above.

• John Butters
  Located on the left bank of the King River above its junction with the Queen River. The station was commissioned in 1992, and houses 144 MW Francis turbine.

• Tribute
  The first of 4 stations in the Anthony/Pieman River schemes. The station was commissioned in 1994 and houses a single Fuji Francis turbine with a generating capacity of 84 MW.

   

Francis turbines are used in all 5 stations - they're our most commonly used turbine because of their efficiency.

At each station, we'll complete a range of tasks including:

• replace turbine components
• refurbish governor systems that control turbine speed and power output
• refurbish intake gates where the water from the dam enters the penstocks (pipes) to flow to the power station
• install new systems to modernise how we control and monitor turbines
• replace turbine power supplies.

The design and supply of new components has already commenced and we expect work to start in November 2027 at Bastyan.

This is a large program of work and we’re anticipating it will bring exciting opportunities and perhaps the occasional challenge. We’ve already started working with project stakeholders such as the West Coast Council and recently started our broader community engagement with three information sessions.